Always Running Away
by Jino1496
Summary: Jiratsu. Tsunade receives a letter from the Raikage, asking for her presence in the Kage meeting that will be held in the Land of the Samurais. To go there,she has to be accompanied by a bodyguard.Everyone is out on missions, so her only option will be the person that she can't stand for more than ten minutes:Jiraiya. Will this journey be a nightmare or hidden feelings will appear?
1. Chapter 1: The letter

**Hey there everyone! I have always loved jiratsu, they are my OTP so I thought it was time to put some of my thoughts about them in a fanfic! It is my first fanfic ever, so I hope you like it. English isn't my first language, so I apologize in advance if you find any mistake here. Please, let me know if you find one! This is planned to be a long fanfic, and I'll try to upload it as soon as possible.**

 **With everything said, let's go with the first chapter that I hope you like, and PLEASE review! It would mean a lot :)**

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"WHAAAAT?! THIS IS A JOKE RIGHT?"

Tsunade couldn't believe what she just read. She received a letter from the Raikage, asking for her presence in a meeting with the 5 Kages in the Land of The Samurais.

"Calm down, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune said, trying her best to make Tsunade relax "I know you don't like meetings, but this one is very important so you must go!"

"I'm not going there. Over my dead body" Tsunade said, while ripping off the letter with her hands. She hated assisting to meetings with the village elders, so she wasn't going to attempt to another boring one, even if it was important.

Shizune sighed. It was a very important meeting that the Hokage had to attempt, especially since the main topic of the meeting was the situation of the five big nations with the Akatsuki, and their attempts of getting all the bijuus.

"But Tsunade-sama" Shizune started again "The meeting will be about the Akatsuki and their plans. It is necessary for us to go since we are one of the two villages that still have a jinchuriki in their hands" Shizune was nervous but relaxed a bit when she saw the Hokage staring at her, giving her all the attention that she had. That gave Shizune the strength to continue with her speech "Akatsuki will continue after Naruto until they get the Kyubi, and we can't let that happen… Konoha and the world would be in great danger, so you must…"

"Attempt that meeting to defend Naruto and everything, I get it. There's no need for you to keep talking"

Shizune stood still for some seconds looking at her master, and then smiled. She knew it was her way of saying that she would go there.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama"

"Whatever" Tsunade said while looking at the little pieces of paper that were spread on her table and that minutes ago formed a letter from the Raikage. She tried to form the letter again, but it was impossible. The pieces were very little and there were many of them "Shizune… won't you have the information of when and where was the meeting right? I have some problems here"

Shizune couldn't resist laughing at the image of her frustrated master trying to desperately reconstruct the letter with all those tiny pieces.

"Yes, we received another letter along with that one that specified the date, place and some other things in it"

She searched for it for a moment and handed it to the Hokage. Tsunade started reading it quickly. She accepted to go to the meeting but still she didn't have any interest on it. She knew it was going to be really boring.

"So, it is in the Land of the Samurais in a week. Damn that place is far away from here, so I will have to depart tomorrow… " Tsunade sighed deeply. Her desire of going there was even getting smaller. It was a long journey to get there and no time to mentally prepare for such an annoying trip "Prepare anything so I can depart early tomorrow, Shizune"

"Yes, Hokage-sama" Shizune turned around to face the door and exit, but before that something came to her mind" I assume you have read what is written on the other side of the paper"

Tsunade frowned her eyebrows and then turned the letter. Shizune was right; there was something written there that she didn't saw. She read it out loud

"Every Kage must assist with one bodyguard to the meeting, just in case anything happens in the journey to the meeting place" Really? I don't need any bodyguard, I can take care of myself! I'm the damn Hokage for God's sake!"

"Of course you can take care of yourself Tsunade-sama" Shizune started "but consider that the five leaders of the greatest countries will go there, so it is a good chance for someone to ambush. It will be safer if you go with someone."

"Okay, okay… " Tsunade said while covering her face with both of her hands. The situation was getting worse and worse and her patience was reaching the limit " Call Kakashi then, he's the best for this I guess"

"He's out on a mission and he won't be back until next week"

"Call Maito Gai then."

"He's out as well"

Tsunade's body was starting to shake from anger. She was containing herself but he wouldn't last much more.

"Then call Yamato to…"

"He's out on a mission too"

That was it. That was the spark that lightened the fire. Tsunade stood up while hitting the table with both his hands and glared at Shizune in a way that the girl opened her eyes wide and started to shake with fear.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS VILLAGE? THERE IS NO ONE HERE OR WHAT?"

"We…well, Tsunade-sama… " talking was really hard. She felt the deadly stare of her master on her "All the elite jounin are out on missions to get more information about the Akatsuki…"

"So there's no one here who can go with me"

Tsunade was really angry, so Shizune was doubting whether to say what she had in mind or not. Maybe her master would kill her but looking at the situation they were into, it was probably she would kill her even without saying a word.

"In fact, there's someone who can be your bodyguard…"

"Who?" Tsunade said quickly and in a very serious tone, without taking her deep stare of her student

"I believe that Jiraiya-sama is in the village right now."

Silence. When Shizune finished talking, silence was all over the room. She looked at her master, who keep that deadly glare but now she wasn't exactly looking at Shizune. It seemed that she was looking into space, at anything in particular. A minute or so passed and Shizune started to worry. Her master didn't even move a millimeter. The only way she knew she was alive was that she could see her breathing.

" Tsunade-sama, are you…"

"Are you really telling me " Tsunade finally started talking, still looking at space " that going with that stupid, perverted and incredibly idiot man is my only option?"

"Well, he's a sannin like you so he's capable of being your bodyguard. In fact, he's even more capable than Kakashi, and Yama…

Shizune stopped talking when she saw her master letting herself fall in her chair, with the expression on her face of someone defeated by life. Tsunade knew that Jiraiya was more than capable of defending her, but another thing she knew for sure is that she would end killing him if she had to stay with him for such a long time. He was such an annoyance… and her only option to go to that meeting.

"Search for Jiraiya and tell him to come here."

That was everything she was able to say. Shizune nodded and immediately left the office, leaving the Hokage alone. If that meeting was already a pain in the ass, going with him only made it worse. He was going to drive her crazy and she knew it. Plus, she had to stand all his jokes and perverted acts. Why did he have to be like that? He was just so stupid. He was a very strong ninja of course, as much as Tsunade or even more, but was a person like him able to be a bodyguard? She totally doubted it. When they were younger, they were on the same team and they often got missions about escorting people, which of course included defending them. All of them were completed successfully, but that was because of Orochimaru and Tsunade. Jiraiya did nothing but joke all the time and putting Tsunade on her nerves.

Suddenly, a knock behind her got her out of her thoughts. The knocks repeated, and they came from the window. She didn't have to turn around to know perfectly who was doing that.

"Come in, Jiraiya."

She heard the window open and suddenly a tall white haired man was standing right beside her.

"Sit, I have to talk about something with you."

The man didn't say a word and obediently, he sat on the chair that was right in front of Tsunade, in the other side of the desk. It was then when she looked at him for the first time. There he was, sitting in the chair with his usual clothes, his long white hair and a very big smile on his face that got Tsunade confused.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Because it isn't very usual from you to call me here. Did you really miss me that much?"

"You idiot!" Tsunade stood up and was going to punch him in the face right when the office door opened and Shizune got in. Both sannin stared at her.

"I see that you already arrived, Jiraiya-sama."

" Yes, I came here as soon as I received your message" he said, before turning his head to face Tsunade, who was now looking at him " but it seems that Tsunade doesn't want to tell me what is this about"

Tsunade stared at him for some seconds, and after that, she sighed, relaxed and sat on her chair again.

" Look, I have a very important mission for you. I have to assist to a meeting with the other Kages in the land of the Samurais, and I need someone to be my bodyguard. Unfortunately every elite jonin who could accompany me are out on missions so you're my only option to go. Will you be my bodyguard?" Tsunade immediately closed her eyes, regretting that last sentence. She knew it was going to be used by him for his perverted jokes.

Jiraiya listened to her carefully, and when she finished talking, he brought his right hand to his chin and closed his eyes, thinking.

"This man is stupid. He's probably thinking how to annoy me now" Tsunade narrowed her eyes, waiting for his response. He was probably going to start saying stupid things and saying that he wouldn't do it, just so she would beg him to go with her. After several seconds, he finally opened his eyes and looking at her, he talked.

"Sure, I will be your bodyguard."

Tsunade frowned at his response. That was it? No jokes? Wasn't he going to try to annoy her? She didn't say a word. She was looking at him, wondering how a simple yes in the first try was possible. Shizune saw her master totally lost in thoughts and not saying a word, so she stepped forward and broke the awkward silence

"That's amazing! Now you have no problem to go there, Tsunade-sama!"

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade started, still looking straight at him "Are you okay? This isn't very usual from you"

"It isn't usual from me what?" Jiraiya was looking at her with a surprise face

"Saying yes without making me begging you, or not annoying me with your stupidity."

Jiraiya had a serious look now. Suddenly, he stood up, put both his hands on the table and leaned forward, placing his face in front of Tsunade's, just a few centimeters away. Tsunade couldn't help blushing a bit when he saw her teammates face so close to hers.

"How am I going to annoy you now and ruin the chance of…"

Tsunade's eyes widened, her blush intensified and her heart started to run faster at the words and serious look of the man whose breath could fell in her face because of how close he was. She didn't know why her body was reacting like that "This man, what is he going to…"

"… Annoying you the whole journey?"

Tsunade's eyes widened even more and her blush turned to an intense red that covered all her face and showed her sudden anger to those words.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUPID?!-"She said while she got up from her chair, getting her fist ready to punch Jiraiya in his face. He already expected a reaction like that, so he dodged it easily by jumping backward and placing himself next to Shizune.

"C'mon hime, it was just a joke! Really, aging doesn't fit you well…"

The Hokage glared at him for several seconds. He was looking at her with that stupid smile of him. "And I'm going to spend every hour and minute of the next days with this stupid asshole" was everything that came to her mind. She couldn't stand him for more than ten minutes, how was she going to stand him the whole journey? She sighed and sat down in her chair again. She was starting to wonder if going alone wasn't a better idea after all when Jiraiya asked about the details of the mission, such as the departure hour.

"The Land of the Samurais is far away from here, so if we want to make it on time we should leave tomorrow very early."

"Okay, got it" Jiraiya said, while nodding with his head "See you at the main gate tomorrow early then."

He was turning around and facing the door of the office when Tsunade spoke. Her anger didn't disappear completely and she was very serious.

"Jiraiya, we both know that I'm more than capable of protecting myself, but still, this is no joke. It is a very important meeting where the Kages will discuss about the actual situation and how to defeat the Akatsuki, and it is a good chance to bandits and even the Akatsuki to attack the leaders. The danger is out there and it is real. Don't underestimate this mission"

"Don't worry about it, hime" Jiraiya said, right before turning his head around and facing Tsunade with the biggest smile that he could have "I will die before anyone can even touch you."

After that, he faced the door and went out of the office, leaving there Tsunade with her eyes and mouth opened up wide, and with an evident blush on her face. She felt something like a spark in her chest and a strange sensation down her spine when she heard those words. What was that? Did he really say that… he would die for her? Those words really took Tsunade off guard. Was he really capable of that? Given the situation, she would probably do it too, but he sounded different, he sounded so convinced…And that smile…was so pure and kind.

"That was beautiful, wasn't it?" Shizune's words took Tsunade out of her thoughts, and she was now looking at her student. In fact, she totally forgot that she was still there. "I think that you couldn't have got a better bodyguard after all, don't you think, Tsunade-sama?"

"Whatever" She said while getting up of her chair and heading to Shizune " We will see how he behaves. It's getting late, so let's go home. I have a long day ahead tomorrow."

Shizune nodded, and they both headed home. During their walk home, they didn't talk much. Tsunade was still thinking about Jiraiya's words.


	2. Chapter 2: The journey begins!

**Hey everyone! First of all, I wanna thank everyone who read the first chapter, and specially the ones who reviewed! I'm really glad that you liked it, it truly means a lot and makes me want to update it even faster, so please don't forget to review this one too!**

 **With that said, let's go with the second chapter to this story! Hope you like it :)**

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The sun was starting to rise and a soft breeze made the leaves of the village's trees dance when Tsunade reached Konoha's main gate. It was very early in the morning, so the streets of the village were totally empty. Everyone was still sleeping, and Tsunade wished to be one of them. She stayed up late preparing everything for the travel, and signing some papers to give Shizune the powers to be the leader of the village in her absence, so she didn't sleep much. Apart from that, she wasn't a morning person; she hated waking up early and every time she did so, she woke up full of anger, ready to kill anyone who got in her way. Shizune already knew it, so she learnt to evade her master in the mornings until it was safe enough to get near her. This day was no different, but luckily there was no one in the streets she could kill on her way to the gate. She was standing there, with her arms crossed in front of her, looking at the main street searching for the tall figure of her "bodyguard". "Arriving on time, the first one of his duties on this mission and he's already failing… damn this idiot, I'm going to kill him".

Fifteen minutes passed and no one appeared. Tsunade's anger was starting to grow even more and her patience was reaching the limit "Where the hell is that idiot?" At least she knew that peeking at other women wasn't the reason of his delay; it was so early in the morning that even the baths were still closed .Making Tsunade wait because of his perverted acts would have been the end of him.

Suddenly, a tall silhouette appeared in the distance. Of course, she knew immediately who it was. As the silhouette was getting bigger, she could distinguish his white long hair and red and green clothes. As she was watching him, one thing got Tsunade's attention and got her really irritated: Jiraiya was walking as if he had no hurry. He was walking carefree and she couldn't stand that.

"MOVE YOUR ASS AND GET HERE ALREADY YOU IDIOT!" Yelled Tsunade with all her strength so he could hear her. In fact, the whole village heard it. Everything was in absolute silence so her shout was heard in every place of Konoha. Tsunade gritted her teeth when she saw that Jiraiya lifted his right arm while walking as slow as before and started waving at her, saluting. It was his way of saying that he heard her, but wasn't going to go faster. Her teeth were about to break when she closed her eyes and relaxed herself, taking deep breaths "It's okay, he's just late and he is stupid, that's it". She repeated that sentence a hundred times and stopped when she felt something near her. She opened her eyes to find Jiraiya right in front of her, with a big smile.

There was something else that the Hokage noticed when looking at the Toad Sage's face; unlike his smile, that seemed full of energy and happiness, his eyes looked tired. Taking a better look, all his face seemed tired except for that smile. It showed that he hadn't slept much either. This look of him impressed Tsunade, and even felt some kind of sorrow for him, so most of her anger vanished and instead of hitting or harassing him, she opted for something that she considered nicer.

"You look awful"

Jiraiya was also looking at her, but his vision of Tsunade was quite different of the one she had of him; she looked so beautiful to him. The first rays of sun reflected on her deep and bright amber eyes, making them even brighter. Jiraiya loved those eyes. Every time he looked at them, he lost himself in their deepness. With a stare at them, you could see the pain that she had to bear for so many years, and the many tears shed. He always wondered how was possible for a woman who has suffered so much and whose pain could be seen in her eyes to have such stunning ones. The sun also stroked her face, making her skin look so soft and warm that Jiraiya had problems to contain himself to not caress it with his hand. Her tiny nose in the middle of her face always made Jiraiya smile inside .The soft breeze made her long blond hair slowly dance around her freshly-face. She had the same age as him, but she looked exactly the same as when they were twenty years old. That's another thing he loved when he looked at her; she brought him so many memories of their youth and the happy times, when they two and Orochimaru were always together, hanging around the village. In fact, there was nothing he didn't love from her. He loved her entire being since the first day he saw her.

He stopped staring at her and returned to Earth when he heard her talking.

"Good morning to you too, Hime" She rolled her eyes at his ironical answer "Sorry for being late Tsunade, I stayed up late so I overslept a bit"

"I hope you aren't late if someone tries to kill me". She sounded very serious, although it wasn't her purpose. They were looking right in each other's eyes

"I won't" he said seriously, breaking eye contact and walking pass Tsunade heading through the main gates. She looked down and started to think again "That tone again, that seriousness…why is he..."

"Are you coming or what?" Tsunade lifted her head and turned around to see Jiraiya looking at her "If we are late, it's going to be your fault you know?" he said, followed by a big laugh. "You idiot!" she said, narrowing her eyes and following Jiraiya out of the village right after a little smile flashed in her face.

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They had walked for more than two hours, but they barely spoke. At first, Tsunade wasn't in the mood to talk since she was still pissed of being awaken so early. Instead of talking she preferred to think. In fact, she had so many things to think about: the Kage meeting, their situation with the Akatsuki, Naruto and the Kyubi, how was Shizune going to manage the village… and Jiraiya's words towards her since the day before. The other topics were of course more important, but the last one was the one that got her thoughts since the last night. " _I will die before anyone can even touch you_ " Damn, what the hell was that? Those words really surprised Tsunade because never in a thousand years she would have expected something like dying for her coming from Jiraiya. Of course she knew that he cared for her, he was the first one to offer her shoulder to Tsunade when Dan and Nawaki died, and had always been there to support her, but _dying_? The man who has been annoying her since the first day was going to do that for her? Andon the other hand, how did he accept being her bodyguard so fast? Escorting missions were always boring, and one thing Jiraiya and Tsunade shared for sure is that they both hated doing boring things. But he accepted immediately. "This must be one of his tricks to make me hang out with him for once" she said trying to convince herself, but she knew Jiraiya well enough to know that the old pervert wouldn't care to ask her directly that, and he wouldn't be with such games…

"Sooooo…" Jiraiya's attempt to speak caught her off guard. She was so deep in her thoughts that she wasn't expecting him to talk. She lifted her head and looked at him "Who did you leave in charge of the village? Shizune?" Jiraiya knew very well that Tsunade wasn't a morning person, and that was the reason why he didn't start a conversation earlier. He knew he wouldn't be in the mood for it, but two hours had passed and the boredom was starting to take over him, so he decided that enough time had passed for his Hokage to wake up.

"Yes" She now turned her head and was looking at the front "I believe that she is capable of doing it alone"

"Sure she is, Shizune's been with you since she was little, so she will do fine"

Tsunade smiled at the image of Shizune when she was a kid. She decided to take care of her when Dan died and soon she grew fond of her. She became such a treasure for Tsunade and they hadn't separated since then.

"At least she won't be worse than you" Right after saying that, Jiraiya felt Tsunade's deadly stare on him. When he looked at her, he confirmed it "I'm just joking! Just joking!" he said, and then laughed nervously. Tsunade kept her stare on him for a few seconds and then decided to stop looking at that idiot. She was tired of thinking, so she continued the conversation with another topic.

"And why did you stay up late? What were you doing?" She asked. In fact, she was a bit curious since he said it.

"Well, since you didn't inform me of the mission well in advance, I had to plan the whole journey in one night, so there wasn't much time left to sleep… I had to make maps, plan the route…"

"Plan the journey?" Tsunade was surprised to hear that, and she was now looking at the backpack that Jiraiya was carrying "So that's why you brought that."

"Yeah, I have maps and some other things here. Along with them, I also carry what is going to be my next best-seller, the next book of my Icha Icha series! I still have to finish it, but is going to be big!" Jiraiya was caressing the backpack with his right hand while saying that last sentence.

Tsunade sighed. He seemed so responsible for a moment and then, a second after, he was the perverted man he always was. Anyways, she didn't skip the point of him not sleeping to plan the journey. Again all that care for her… Not wanting to start thinking again or get angry once more, this time because of his perverted side, she decided to change the subject of the conversation once again.

"Well, since you have everything so well planned, how much is left till we arrive to the next village? We've been walking for hours now and I need some rest"

"We still have about two hours to arrive to the next village. There, we will have lunch and get some rest and then we'll walk for another three hours to the village where we will pass the night"

Tsunade widened her eyes at that plan and was now looking at him "Are you crazy? You want to kill me? That's too much!"

"To be the Hokage you're really out of shape"

"You idiot!" she said, hitting him in the arm. Even if it was a soft hit for her, it was a painful one for him, so a little "ouch" escaped from his mouth.

"You know" Jiraiya was really comfortable and was enjoying their conversation, so he started a topic that would give them plenty to talk. He didn't want the both of them to be quiet again. "Naruto is training really hard to become Hokage… He reminds me of myself, working so hard, never giving up…"

"And being a brat" Jiraiya turned his head to face Tsunade, while narrowing his eyes "He also got tied to the trunk during the bell test with Kakashi, right?" She had an evil smile on her face.

"Well, apart from being tied at least he didn't loss a bet as well" His words made Tsunade burst in laughter, which made Jiraiya start laughing too. "True! I didn't remember that part" she said, while still laughing. Seeing Tsunade like that made Jiraiya so happy, and a huge sincere and kind smile appeared on his face while watching her. Before she stopped laughing and so she wouldn't see him completely lost on her laugh, he started talking again, keeping the conversation up.

They continued talking until they got to the first village on their plan. They had walked for nearly five hours now, but since they started talking, time flied for Tsunade. She was enjoying their conversation too much, so the last hours felt like minutes. Tsunade started to think that maybe having Jiraiya as her bodyguard wasn't that bad after all. When they arrived, they first got to the local bar and ordered some food and a bottle of sake. Just one, they were on a mission and getting drunk wasn't very professional after all. Tsunade paid for it, and then they went to the park, which was close to the bar. There, they sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunny day. There was so much people in the streets, and the park was full of kids playing games.

Jiraiya had both his arms and his head rested on the bench's back, and was looking at the blue sky. There weren't many clouds and the fresh wind stroke his face. It was such a beautiful day. Suddenly, he felt something on his right shoulder, and he looked only to see Tsunade's head resting on it. She was totally asleep. It was normal; since she became the Hokage she wasn't very used to walk long distances, so this travel was very tiring for her. Plus, she only slept a few hours. Jiraiya knew all that, and waking her up was totally discarded. He only smiled at such precious image and returned back to watch the sky. Before he could see it coming, he fell asleep as well.

When Tsunade opened her eyes, she felt really comfortable. She even moved her head a bit to place it better when she realized where she was resting and her eyes opened up wide. An instant blush appeared on her face and stood up immediately. That quick movement woke up Jiraiya.

"Wha…What was going on here?" she asked, still with an evident blush on her face.

"Mmm?"Jiraiya was still waking up and was now rubbing his eyes with his hands" You fell asleep on my shoulder, and as you had said earlier that you were tired, I didn't wake you up" His speech was interrupted by a big yawn "But it seems that I fell asleep too" He was looking at her, and his eyes narrowed when he saw the Hokage's red face "Hime, are you.."

"Whatever" she turned around so he wouldn't see her face "Let's keep on moving, we have lost much time here"

"Yeah" He got up of the bench as he took his scroll and backpack, which were next to him. He situated next to Tsunade and both of them started walking again

After all that, he couldn't help but smile the rest of the journey.

* * *

They kept walking for the three hours planned and finally arrived to the last village, where they were going to spend the night. Because of their little nap on the bench, they lost much time, so when they arrived the sun was already setting. Both sannins were so tired, so after eating something real fast, they went straight to the local inn. Jiraiya and Tsunade stood outside of it.

"Don't you dare making me sleep here" Tsunade said, looking at the old building that was in front of them. It was rather small and had a really bad appearance; the panel of the inn was half fallen and many parts of the facade were broken "You must be joking"

"C'mon Hime, I know it's not a mansion and not a place for a Hokage, but we can't sleep in an expensive one. We must be discrete. Plus, I've been here a couple of times before on my travels and it's not that bad inside, I promise" he said, already opening the door of the inn "Ladies first"

Tsunade was staring at him and wasn't moving, so he made a gesture with his head telling her to enter. She sighed and finally she got in followed by Jiraiya. The hall of the inn was certainly better than the outside. The lights made it a warm and comfortable place, and was nicely decorated with wooden furniture. Tsunade was still looking at the place when Jiraiya went ahead and asked for a room.

"Hi! Have you got a double room available? With two…" Jiraiya started, but was soon interrupted by Tsunade, who was behind him.

"You mean two rooms"

Jiraiya turned around to look at Tsunade for a second, and then turned again, shocking his head "No, I mean one double room with..."

Suddenly, he was pulled by an incredible strength backward that separated him from the counter and almost made him fall. Then, the same strength turned him around to face Tsunade, who was now grabbing him tightly from his clothes, near his neck. They were now face to face, a few centimeters away. Tsunade was red and full of anger.

"What do you think you are doing, you damn pervert?" she said, with a deadly glare on him

"And you? What the hell are you doing, are you insane?" he was getting angry too because of her modals, and was also staring at her

"Taking an only room for us two? Do you think I'm stupid? I see what you want to do, pervert!"

"Protect you maybe? How am I supposed to do so if we sleep in different rooms ah? And if you would let me finish for once I was going to ask for two damn separated beds, you crazy woman"

Hearing him call her "crazy" made Tsunade even angrier. Her eyes opened up wide, and she strongly gritted her teeth, showing them while he pulled him even closer and grabbed him even tighter "I swear to God that if you try to do something I'll break you apart in pieces and give them as food for your toads"

"Why would I even want to do something with you, you crazy woman!" Both of them were red of anger, gritting their teeth and staring deadly at each other.

"Ehmm..." The two of them turned their head at the same time to look at the receptionist of the inn, who was now talking "I have a single room with two separated beds in it if you are interested"

"Perfect! Jiraiya said, while breaking Tsunade's grip benefiting of the fact that she was still looking at the receptionist, and went close to the counter to pay for the room and take its key

"So you have to leave the room tomorrow at 12am. It's room number 23" As soon as the receptionist said it, Tsunade took a deep breath and headed to the room, without saying a word. Jiraiya watched her doing so, and followed her when the receptionist talked

"Excuse me sir, I know it's not my business but, is everything fine?"

Jiraiya turned to answer him "Sure! Don't worry, we've been like this since we were kids over and over again" A bright smile appeared on his face then "She will have it forgotten in some minutes". The receptionist seemed surprised, but she just nodded at his response and focused on some papers that he had on a desk. Jiraiya then headed to the door with the number 23 on it, only to find Tsunade waiting there.

"What have you being doing? You got lost or are you going to arrive late every time?" Any form of anger had disappeared from her face now, except a little redness on her cheeks. In fact, a little evil smile was on her lips

"I guess so" he said, with a half-smile on his face while entering the key to open the door and getting in. Tsunade followed him in, and turned to close the door when a thought came to her mind that brought a smile to her face unconsciously.

"I guess that it's okay if you are late… as long as you come"


	3. Chapter 3: Hearts and feelings

**Hey everyone! First of all many thanks again for everyone who read and specially reviewed the last chapter. Second, my apologizes for the delay with this chapter. It's been a busy week and it has taken me ages to finish it. I'm sorry and I'll try this doesn't happen again! In return, this one is longer than the other two chapters together, so it is a long one that I hope you all like! :)**

 **Please please REVIEW and let me know what you think of this and what I can improve! It means a lot and motivates me to keep writing :D**

 **Well, that was it! Let's go with chapter 3 now! I hope you all like it :D**

* * *

Jiraiya was the first one to open his eyes. He wanted to sleep more, but there was work to do; the first day of the journey was over but he still had to plan the second one, and why not, maybe write a bit about his next best seller. In fact, it was early in the morning and there was time to do all that before starting walking again. He sat up in bed, still with his eyes half closed and sleepy and the first thing he did was looking at the woman who was still sleeping in the bed next to his. Jiraiya looked at her face for several seconds. She looked so calm, and it seemed that she was sleeping so peacefully "Who would say that this woman is able to kill me with just a punch" he thought. He could spend the whole day just looking at her sleeping, although there was nothing in the world he wanted to do more than lay down next to her and hold her tight. He shook his head, thinking that that wasn't something very professional for a bodyguard, and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom. There, he looked at himself in the mirror; there was a smile in his face that he wasn't even aware of. He soon understood why it was there; the day before had been amazing. He spent the whole day with Tsunade, talking and laughing with her, just like in the old times. Since they had met again when Jiraiya went to search for her to become Hokage they hadn't had much time to spend together. Some days he went to her office and annoy her a bit, but that was all. He wasn't going to lie to himself, one of the reasons why he took the mission of being her bodyguard so easily was just to spend more time with her. Jiraiya did know that Tsunade saw him just as a good friend, and that her heart was closed since Dan died, so he wasn't coming for a chance with her. It was too much to ask for. Just spending time with her was enough for him.

After that little thinking, he took a quick shower, dressed and went back to the room where Tsunade was still deep in her sleep. Seeing his sleepyhead teammate made Jiraiya laugh a bit, and then he just sat on the chair that there was in front of the desk and decided that he wanted to start the day writing some chapter of his novel. After all, he was in good spirits and inspired.

* * *

Tsunade woke up when the sun rays that went through the window hit her face. She opened her eyes slowly, sat in bed and started to stretch, lifting both her arms above her head. That's when she saw Jiraiya sitting in the chair, who was turning around and looking at Tsunade now

"Good morning Hime"

"Morning" she was now rubbing her eyes. Even though she slept for many hours, her "not a morning person" attitude was still there. "How long have you been up?"

"For some hours now" he took and showed her the papers that were on the desk "I've had time to plan today's journey and even write some chapters of my best seller!"

"Some hours?" She totally ignored the comment of his useless book and looked to the window "Jiraiya, what time is it?"

"Mmm… About eleven o'clock"

"WHAAAAT?" her eyes widened and quickly got out of bed, running around the room taking all her clothes "Why didn't you wake me up before you idiot! It's too late and we still have a long way ahead!"

Jiraiya watched her running from one sided of the room to the other, totally panicking. He decided whether to talk or not. Seeing her hysterical was so fun, but he decided to be a good person. "Calm down Hime,I didn't wake you up before because today the journey will be short. We will have more than enough time just departing after lunch"

"Oh" she suddenly stopped and was standing still in the middle of the room, with her hands full of her clothes. "I see. And we will still arrive on time to the meeting?"

"We will. I planned this one to be short since we walked too much yesterday"

"I see…err... well done"

They both stayed looking at each other when suddenly Jiraiya burst out in laughter. Tsunade frowned at that action.

"What are you laughing at?" She was already preparing her fist

"You know, you have some crazy and funny hairs when you just woke up"

Her eyes widened and her face turned redder than a tomato after those words. That statement caught her so off guard that she forgot about hitting him and ran fast to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. When she was doing so, she could still hear Jiraiya laughing in the room, so she showed her anger by a slam on the bathroom door. Looking at the mirror, her hair was truly a mess. One of her ponytails was totally undone and the other one was nearly in the same situation. The rest of her hair was chaotic, and it seemed that she even had spiky hair "This idiot, laughing at me…" That's when she realized it: the red of his face had gone, but there was a little blush on her face. Tsunade looked at it for some seconds. In the last two days she has been blushing a lot… because of him. Sometimes she felt the blush on her cheeks when they were just talking. Why was that? Maybe because they hadn't been like that since a long time ago? With all her duties as the Hokage, she hadn't much free time, so seeing Jiraiya was barely impossible. When they were in the village this didn't bother her at all. They could spend weeks or even a month or more without seeing each other and she didn't even care, but thinking about it now… he was his best friend, and even if she hated to admit it, she enjoyed being with him, so she started to think that deep in her hearth she missed these moments, being with him, talking with him, laughing with him… and blushing? You don't blush when you're just talking with a friend… or is it because…

Tsunade shook her head. What was she even thinking? She quickly took a cold shower so all the stupid thoughts would go away, dressed up and returned to the room, only to find Jiraiya still focused in his book. He turned around as soon as she entered the room.

"Ahh, now you really look like my Hime" he said, laughing a bit

"I hate you" Tsunade started to pack all her things, preparing to leave. She put her backpack on the bed and put all her stuff inside.

"And when haven't you?" he said, laughing again and turning on the chair to keep writing.

"I think that the only time I haven't hated you was when I hadn't met you yet"

"I love it when you say such beautiful things to me" he didn't even take his look of the papers in front of him to answer. He just turned around when a loud sound coming from behind him caught his attention "What was that?" Tsunade was with her hand on her stomach and looking at him, with a really funny embarrassed face "Don't tell me that was your stomach". The Toad Sage couldn't help but start laughing really loud, with even tears forming on his eyes.

Tsunade started to get angry at his reaction. Her teeth were about to break and a vein appeared on her forehead. She quickly headed to Jiraiya, grabbed him from his clothes lifting the man from the chair and pulled him near her.

"Keep laughing at me and I will punch you so hard in the face that you won't be able to laugh again in your whole life" Jiraiya had now stopped laughing and was staring at the vein in her forehead, which was about to explode

"Okay, okay I got it!"

She freed Jiraiya from her grab and took her backpack "Let's go then, I'm hungry". Tsunade headed to the door, opened it and went out, without waiting for her teammate. Jiraiya watched her going, and when he was sure she was away enough, he sighed and started packing all his papers "This woman is going to be the end of me someday" he said quietly, before closing the backpack and leaving the room, in search of his Hokage.

Both sannin went to a bar that was close to the Inn they had just left. When they entered, Jiraiya saw some newspapers on the corner of the counter, so he took one. They sat on a table very well situated near a window and made their order. Since their dinner last night had been quick and they didn't eat much both of them were starving, so they ordered a good amount of food. For the waiting, Jiraiya took out the newspaper and started reading it

"A newspaper? You are really getting old" Tsunade was looking at him with her right eyebrow raised

"I like to know what happens around the world. Is it that bad?" He answered, while he kept reading the pages. He heard Tsunade sighing and some minutes after their order arrived.

Even though it was much food, they ate it fast. When they finished, both sannin leant back on their chair, with Jiraiya even rubbing his stomach because of how full he was. Suddenly, Tsunade leant forward and took the newspaper that Jiraiya had left folded on the table before they started eating.

"I thought you said it was an old's thing" he said, with a half-smile on his face

"And it is, but a Hokage must be aware of everything that happens" Tsunade started passing all the pages fast, just looking over the titles of the news "At least it seems that Konoha hasn't burned yet under Shizune's hands"

Jiraiya was now playing with the chopsticks that were on their plates, and laughed at her teammate's words "You really should trust more on your student Hime". After keeping playing with the chopsticks for some seconds, he stopped when he heard no answer from Tsunade. He then lifted his head and looked at her; that's when he saw her horrified expression "Hime?" Jiraiya was starting to worry. Her face was pale, even whiter than his hair. Her eyes were open up wide and beads of cold sweat were going down her face. She wasn't even moving a millimeter and was barely breathing. "Hime what's going on?" Jiraiya was looking at her with such worried eyes. He didn't know what was going on. He had read the newspaper before and there was nothing that could bother any of them both, there were no news about Konoha or even Akatsuki. Jiraiya saw nothing important on it, or at least something that could affect any of the sannin. But clearly she had. Her eyes couldn't be more open and had an expression of unbearable pain and fear. It wasn't the first time that the white haired sannin had seen that expression on Tsunade's eyes. "Tsunade!" he shouted, while reaching for her hand. That's when she finally reacted. She blinked, as a sign of returning to Earth and quickly moved her hand, just before Jiraiya could touch it. She threw the newspaper to the ground and stood up.

"We are leaving, It's getting late" Because of Jiraiya's shout, everyone in the bar was looking at them

"Tsunade what happens?" the worried look in his eyes was still there, and could even be felt on his tone.

"Nothing, let's go" she was now putting her green jacket on

That answer didn't leave the Toad Sage satisfied. He knew something happened "Tsunade wh..."

"Jiraiya, please" They were now looking at each other's eyes. Jiraiya was feeling something in his chest, some kind of pain. "Let's go" They stayed like that, looking at each other for several seconds until Jiraiya closed her eyes, sighed and finally stood up.

"Okay" he said, very serious, while taking his scroll and backpack and putting them on. Tsunade didn't even wait for him, she just turned around and headed to the door to left the bar. Jiraiya looked at the newspaper that was on the ground "What the hell did she saw there to be like this now". He gritted his teeth at the thought of her suffering. Still with the thought in his mind, he followed her, leaving the bar with everyone still looking at him.

* * *

More than two hours had passed and Tsunade haven't even muttered a word. Sometimes Jiraiya threw some comments to make her talk but she totally ignored them. He was constantly looking at Tsunade very worried but she was looking at space all the time deep in her thoughts. He was lost in his thoughts as well; he couldn't stop thinking about what it could be that made her be like this. In the morning she was full of energy and now, after looking the newspaper, she changed totally. Her face was still pale and her eyes didn't have that shine that he loved so much. In his head the pages of the newspaper were passing again and again, trying to figure out what could have been, but still nothing seemed important. He had no clue. Suddenly, Tsunade stopped walking, and he only moved his eyes from her face to look at her fists, which were now clenched. She was facing the ground when she started talking.

"Jiraiya… Will you please stop?" Along with the worried expression a surprise one appeared on Jiraiya's face

"Stop what?" after saying that, his eyes widened. Tsunade was now looking at him with a face full of anger, but what caught his attention were her blurred eyes. Was she about to cry?

"Stop looking at me with such eyes! As if you were so worried about me!"

"Because I am! I am worried about you but I don't know what the hell is going on! And you don't…"

"I told you that nothing happens, so stop! Stop worrying about me! I don't know why you are doing it and I also don't need it. I don't need your worried looks, you make me sick! I feel as if people should fell sorrow for me or something. Mind your own business. You are here just in case someone tries to kill me, nothing more. You are here as my bodyguard and that's it, you're not my babysitter. Fucking stop it! If you are going to be like this, please GO" she yelled at him, while a tear that didn't fall formed in her eye.

Many thing were passing through Jiraiya's mind in that moment, but the tear that was forming in Tsunade's right eye stopped him from saying anything. In fact, he couldn't have said anything even if he wanted too. He was paralyzed. Those words felt like a sword that stabbed him a thousand times all of them in his heart, a heart that he didn't even fell beating. He would have sworn that it had stopped when hearing those words. He couldn't move. The only thing he could do was seeing her turn around and keep walking forward, leaving him behind. For him that scene, her leaving him behind, was some kind of metaphor of his life. Every time he got closer to Tsunade, she suddenly pushed him away. It was always the same, but this time… This time was different. This time he had to bring his hand to his heart to know for sure that it was still working, that it wasn't broken in half as he felt it was. He gritted her teeth as he grabbed his clothes where they were covering his wounded heart. Was it really worth it all the pain? She didn't feel anything for him, but still he had no doubt on dying for her. He looked at his princess in the distance to find the answer…and he found it.

Tsunade was standing in the middle of the way, some meters ahead, giving her back to him and looking at the ground.

"What did I do, I really screwed up this time… please…please, don't go... I…." suddenly she felt the embrace of loneliness again, she felt her mind crashing again returning to the days of pain, returning to those days when everything was dark, when everyone was dead. The days when her beloved brother died as a victim of the war the day after his birthday. The days when she felt the cold blood of her lover on her hands while his dead body was laying in front of her, unable to do anything that would have saved him. Along with them died the dream that both shared, the dream of being the Hokage, the dream of protecting their village and its villagers. How ironic that that dead dream was the one that brought Tsunade to life many years later.

But now there she stood, embraced tightly by that pain again, the pain of seeing someone loved going away from her. Someone loved. That was it, that's what Jiraiya was for her. She suddenly realized how important he was for her. He was as important for her as Nawaki and Dan were, but… was it because he was her best friend, or was he even more?

A warm feeling on her shoulder got her out of that embrace. Tsunade's eyes open up wide, and all the shadows around her suddenly disappeared. She lifted her head and saw Jiraiya beside her with his hand on her shoulder, looking at her with a smile that warmed her entire being now. He was in pain, she could see that, but he recomposed himself for her. Just for her.

"Jiraiya…" the tear finally fell "Thank you…again"

Even though all he wanted was ask her about what the problem was, he understood it wasn't the moment. "You don't have to thank me anything, Hime" his smile was even warmer and brighter now "Let's keep walking, shall we?" Tsunade wiped with her hand the remains of the tear on her face and nodded at him.

* * *

After three hours walking, they finally reached the village where they were going to sleep. They hadn't talked. Jiraiya knew that what happened was something like a breakdown, and that even though she thanked him for not going, she still wasn't well. Tsunade was still in pain. As soon as they arrived, Tsunade suggested to go directly to the local in, since she was tired. Jiraiya agreed and both headed there.

The inn seemed much better than the one they had slept in the day before, at least from the outside. Same as the day before, when they entered Jiraiya stepped forward to get a room

"Hello, do you have a room with two separated beds please?"

"I'm afraid we don't sir. We only have one room left, and it only has one bed"

"Oh… Doesn't matter, we will get it th..."

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade was still with her thoughts, but wasn't deaf. She had her arms crossed and the vein in her forehead was starting to appear" What are you doing?"

"Don't worry Hime" he said looking at her, before turning to the receptionist "I believe your rooms have something like a couch too right?"

"Each room has an armchair, yes"

"I will sleep there then. Would you give me the key please?"

Tsunade was looking at Jiraiya. After everything she has done to him, he was still there. He has always been. Since they were kids she treated him bad. When they were children, she couldn't stand him, he was totally unskilled as a ninja, was always asking her out and was rather stupid. The only reason why she didn't ask for another team is that she was with Orochimaru, who she respected. Unlike Jiraiya, he was an excellent shinobi. The best one indeed. He was cold and barely spoke or socialize with the other gennin but Tsunade felt as if she could learn a lot from him. Plus, he humiliated Jiraiya many times and it was so much fun to see. As time passed, she started swallowing Jiraiya a bit more. He started training hard to become stronger in Mount Myoboku, and that caused him to change a bit. Even though he was still rather stupid for Tsunade, he stopped being so annoying to her. In fact, since he was training far away they barely see each other, only the few times that he returned and in some missions. He was getting much stronger eventually catching his teammates, and he even act more seriously. One could say that he "maturated" but still he was rather immature and his perverted side was of course untouched. Jiraiya started travelling, and some time passed that they didn't see each other. Tsunade never admitted it to anyone, but she did miss him when he was gone.

And then the war came. Everything changed; allies turned into enemies in the blink of an eye and suddenly you could trust no one. There was no peaceful place left, all the shinobi nations were fighting and blood ran all over the globe. In that era of change, Tsunade discovered a side of Jiraiya that she had never imagined. He had just returned from his travels to fight for Konoha along with his old teammates in the war, and at first it seemed that there wasn't much of that stupid perverted and unskilled man anymore. He was now as strong as Orochimaru and Tsunade, or even more. He was wiser and a serious expression was on his face. Tsunade soon realized that side of Jiraiya was just for the battlefield; out of it when they weren't fighting he was the same brat and that made Tsunade smile in relief. Seeing that his old friend hadn't changed at all after all the time out made her incredibly happy.

The three of them were strong, the strongest ones in fact. No one could beat them. But killing someone isn't the only way to defeat them. Love is a doubled edged sword that can make you stronger wielding it or can break you in pieces.

Dan and Nawaki's deaths drowned Tsunade in misery and agony. The two persons she loved the most got torn from her hands. But once again, there he was, throwing some light in her life. Jiraiya showed his support since the first moment, leaning his shoulder to her. Even though he was important for Tsunade, she had punched him a hundred times, insulted a thousand and treated him bad uncountable times. And after all, there he was then, and there he was now, thirty years later.

When they entered the room, Tsunade threw her backpack next to the bed and laid down on it, looking at the ceiling. Jiraiya headed to the desk that was in one of the corners of the room and started unpacking all his papers, leaving them on the desk. After that, he left her big and tall body fall on the armchair, which made it crack a bit because of such weight. He tested it a bit to see if it was comfortable enough to sleep in it, and after considering that his options were either sleeping there or in the roof, it quickly felt much comfortable than it truly was. His little research about the comfortability of the armchair where loudly followed by a sound coming from his stomach. He was indeed hungry. He already wanted to eat something when they arrived to the village, but as soon as they got there Tsunade wanted to go to the inn and he didn't want to gainsay her, so he just agreed and came here but now he was starving. He decided to take a quick shower hoping it would take the feeling of hunger away from him at least a little bit, but as anyone would have expected, it didn't do anything. Back in the room again, he stared at Tsunade. She was in the same position as when he left, still looking at the ceiling without saying a word. A worried look appeared on the white haired sannin once again, but he quickly shook his head so she wouldn't see him. The day wasn't going well and he didn't know what to do with Tsunade; watching her like that was hurting even more his wounded heart, so he decided to go take something to eat to spare his mind for a moment.

"Hime, I'm starving so I'm going to get something to eat. I saw a ramen bar right next to the inn when we were coming so I think I will go there. Do you want something?" Tsunade just shook her head at her teammates words, declining his offer "You sure? You will be hungry later". This time there was no answer. The Hokage kept laid down on the bed, with her eyes staring at the ceiling and her two blonde ponytails scattered on the sheets. The white haired sannin sighed and left the room without saying anything more.

* * *

Jiraiya arrived fast to the ramen bar. It was right next to the inn, and he went fast since he didn't want to leave Tsunade alone for much time. He was her bodyguard after all.

"One special ramen please, to take away" as soon as he heard him the cook started working on it at a fast speed that got Jiraiya's attention. He was quite faster than the Ichiraku's old man "You know, make it two specials instead of one" the cook nodded at Jiraiya and started working on another one, without taking away his eyes from his creations. Jiraiya decided to take another one for Tsunade, since he knew she was going to be hungry later. Apart from it, the next day was going to be long so they needed as much energy as possible.

While waiting for the order, the sannin took a look at the bar. It was bigger than the one in Konoha but still wasn't huge. The walls were decorated with floral motifs that Jiraiya didn't really like. He liked flowers but thought that putting them as decoration for a wall was rather girly. There were many tables for customers, each one again decorated with a vase with a flower in it. Jiraiya was about to smirk at the ridiculous amount of floral presence in the bar when something got in his eye; there was a newspaper in one of the tables. He quickly headed to it and grabbed the paper, decided to search for what has caused his Hime to be like that now. He returned to his spot next to the corner, and leaning on it started rereading the paper searching for anything that could be important and maybe he had passed the first time he read it. Every news, every paragraph and every picture were checked, but again, he found nothing. When finishing reading the last page, he couldn't help but clench his fists causing the paper to shrivel. It was frustrating to see her like that and can't help her, it was frustrating to know that he had the answer in his hands and he couldn't see it. Suddenly, the cook appeared with his order, already correctly packed into a bag and ready to take. Jiraiya quickly folded the newspaper and gave the man the money for the meal. It was, in fact, more expensive than Ichiraku. When he turned around to put the money in the cash machine, Jiraiya quickly opened a bit his green kimono and placed the folded newspaper inside, to bring it with him back to the inn. He was going to find out what was going on. He took the order and then headed to the inn to meet with Tsunade again.

* * *

As expected, the Slug Princess was in the same position as he left her.

"I'm back, Hime" he said while entering the room and closing the door. No answer was heard "I know you said you didn't want anything to eat, but you know, I bought you something anyways" he said, leaving both of the ramens in the table and turning the chair around to be facing Tsunade. He took the chopsticks and started eating.

"Well" he started talking, full mouth "They are good, the ones from Ichiraku are far better but these ones taste really good too. I bet Naruto would love to try them" The smell of the freshly made ramen was filling every corner of the room. It was a smell that made you want to eat it so bad. Jiraiya knew it as much as he knew the woman who was laid in the bed in front of him. He saw how even if she was still not moving a bit, her nostrils were opening each second a bit more and her breaths were deeper "Wow, the sauce is reeeeally good, it's been a long time since I haven't eaten a sauce like this. It is sweet but with a little spicy touch in the end… and the meat is just really well cooked, in its right point, so soft…" he narrowed his eyes when saw Tsunade taking her hand to her stomach. He smirked and continued "and the shrimps, they are so tasty… and don't make me talk about the noodles, they are…" Suddenly Tsunade sat on the bed and a big smile of victory appeared on Jiraiya's face, along with his still full mouth.

"So… you took one for me?" she asked, with a pouty face and evading looking at him. It was the same face she made when they were younger, every time she had to ask Jiraiya for something. That face was another one of the uncountable things he loved of her.

"Yeah" he said, handing it to her. She grabbed it and started eating. They both ate in silence, but still Jiraiya thought it was such a step forward. At least she had finally reacted.

It was starting to be late, so when they finished eating, it was time to sleep. Tsunade took a quick shower and then got in the bed, again, without saying a word. Jiraiya sat in the armchair and placed himself as comfortable as he could, and then turned off the lights.

"Good night Hime" he said in the dark, but no one answered.

* * *

Some hours had passed and still Tsunade couldn't fall asleep. Her head was still filled with thoughts, the same ones again and again since she saw the newspaper. She knew Jiraiya was trying to help her, that the dinner was his way of cheering her up, that he wanted to know what was going on, but she didn't feel like talking about it with him. Not now, when she was starting to wonder if her feelings for him were beyond friendship.

"You should sleep Hime. We have a long day ahead tomorrow"

Tsunade jumped a bit in the bed, and immediately sat on the bed, only to find Jiraiya in the armchair looking at her with a serious face, along with a surprised one.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I guess it sounded kind of creep right?" a very little smile appeared on his face

"So you haven't fall asleep yet either..." she said, really soft

"Yet? I'm not planning on falling sleep at all, just in little turn of 15 minutes. I'm your bodyguard, so I must protect you. This is what we were taught in the academy, don't you remember?"  
He was right. In the academy, shinobis were taught that for scort missions they had to sleep in turns at night. If there were more than one shinobi, each one would sleep an amount of hours while the other guarded, and then they changed, but when the bodyguard was just one, he had to sleep in turn of fifteen minutes and then stay awake for an hour or so. It was such a hard duty.

"There's no need to do so now, we are in a closed space. That was especially designated for open places like forests. Go sleep now for God's sake!" she stopped when realizing that she had barely shout that last statement. Again, all that care for her… it was overwhelming.

"I know, but I don't mind doing so now. I had much sleep yesterday. It's you the one who should sleep Hi.."

"Why are you doing this?" She interrupted him. He was now very serious, looking at her. "Why are you here now, why are you my bodyguard?"

"Because you asked me to"

"You don't like this kind of things, they are hard, they are boring… they are not for you. Why the hell did you accept it at first, why didn't you refuse it?" she was talking loud, nearly shouting at him and had lost all trace of her nerves. Jiraiya, on the other side, was trying to stay very calm, although many things were happening inside him. He took some seconds to answer.

"Because I don't trust in anyone more than in myself to protect you. That's why I accepted it so fast."

That answer left Tsunade breathless and with wide open eyes that started to get blurred. In any other occasion their talk would have ended with such an answer, but she was tired of thinking, keeping everything to herself and not talking about it.

"Why? Why do you care so much about me? I have always treated you so bad and you treat me so well… why?" she was still talking loud but softer than before. Her stare was directly in Jiraiya's eyes "You even said you would die for me, is it true? Is it?"

"Of course it is"

"Why? Why would you do so?" her tone was starting to raise again and you could feel in her trembling voice that she was near crying. Jiraiya recognized all that; that face, that tone, all those questions… It was just like then.

"Of course I would die for you Tsunade but I don't see where you want to lead with all this, is this abo…"

"I said why do you care so much about me!" this time screaming with all her strength, which made Jiraiya's calm face turn into a surprised one with traces of fear. The open and blurred eyes of the blonde Hokage were deeply staring at him. He had it clear now; all this reaction was the same as when Dan died many years ago, when she thought she was alone in the world, that there was no one left. But why did all those feelings suddenly appear again?

"Because I love you with all my heart, and if something happened to you I would die as well" was all Jiraiya had in mind, and he was dying to say so, but it just wasn't the moment. This wasn't to moment to say such thing to her. She was broken and saying something like that would probably break her even more. So, avoiding that part, he started talking.

"Why do I care about you so much? We've been together since we were six years old Tsunade. We have fought together, we have laughed together and we have cried together. We have shared so many moments, goods and bads, but always together, the two of us. And even if you think you have treated me bad all this time, I disagree. You have helped me as much as I have helped you during hard times, believe me. Each moment I have passed with you since the day I meet you is something I treasure and if something happened to you during this travel I couldn't forgive myself so that's why I had to come. Good times always help making good friendships but hard times are what really stick two people together because that's when they show who they really are. I am sure that you will agree with me in the fact that we have had many bad times but here we are the both of us, because we had each other. I have seen how you really are, I have seen inside you just the same as you have seen inside me. That's why I care about you. Because you just feel like another part of my being, a soulmate someone would say. You are and have always been the most important woman in my life so never dare to ask me why I care so much about you again."

Tears started to fall through Tsunade's face when Jiraiya ended talking. She was now looking at her hands, which were grabbing tightly the white sheets that covered her body. Jiraiya was looking at her very worried, wondering if his words had put her under more pressure. After several seconds, he was about to start talking again when she spoke

"So that's it…You really care…" Tsunade hated to cry in front of people, and even though the man in front of her had seen her tears many times before, she still hated it. That anger with herself for crying in front of someone made her stop talking for some seconds "I see, you would really die for me"

"Yes I would, without a doubt. I don't want to see you hurt again Tsunade, but seeing you like this right now it is…"

Suddenly, without saying a word she got out of bed and stood up, heading to Jiraiya who was now looking at her confused. She took his right hand and pulled him gently, asking to stand up. He did so and before he could even notice she buried her face on his chest and placed her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Jiraiya was really surprised with such thing, but didn't hesitate to hug her back, pulling her even closer.

Tears stopped falling from Tsunade's eyes. His body was so warm and calm and she could hear every heartbeat on his chest, so she quickly relaxed. She felt safe there, she felt loved.

"Never die idiot, not even for me. I don't want to see anyone close dying again. I wouldn't forgive you" she said, rubbing gently her face against his chest. Jiraiya smirked and hold her even tighter as a response. He couldn't promise her that; given the situation, he would do it without thinking it twice. But her words reminded him of something; she said _again_ , so now it was even clearer that Dan and Nawaki were the ones in her mind for the whole day. He still had to discover why.

* * *

About an hour had passed and Tsunade was finally asleep. After their hug, she just got into the bed again and tried to sleep. She was quite better than before but still she wasn't as always. Jiraiya was in the armchair, making sure that she was deep in her sleep when he got the newspaper out and started looking at it. Even though it was dark some moonlight went through the window and it was enough to see what Jiraiya thought could be the problem. He searched for it and _there it was._ As soon as he found it, he closed his eyes and leant his head on the back of the armchair "How can I be so stupid of not realizing this". He leant forward and stood up, throwing the newspaper to the bin that was next to the table on his way to the window. Looking at the shining moon that was in the middle of the night sky, he couldn't believe how he had passed something as evident as the date that was printed on top of the pages. He now understood everything, and started preparing himself for the next day for a thought that brought a shiver down his spine.

"Tomorrow will be thirty years since Dan died"


	4. Chapter 4: Night out

**Hey everyone! Here it is, the forth chapter to this story! Sorry for the little delay, but I just happened to confirm what I already suspected: I'm a really lazy writer. Anyway, even if I take my time don't even think that this story is forgotten! I think about it everyday, but I am lazy to write the ideas down T.T**

 **Anyways, here it is! As always, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story. The feedback is what makes me want to write faster, so please PLEASE REVIEW! It means sooo much, I wanna know what you all think, what you like and what you don't, and how to improve this story! So please, leave a comment :D**

 **Enough talking, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Tsunade opened her eyes to the smell of freshly made eggs, bacon and toasts carefully put on a plate on the night table next to her bed. Along with them a big glass of orange juice was standing. She rubbed her eyes to confirm that what she was seeing wasn't a dream, and confused by such thing she sat in bed, searching for her teammate. Jiraiya was sitting in the chair next to the desk that was in the corner, and he just turned around when he heard Tsunade waking up.

"Morning Hime!" he said with such a wide and kind smile on his face that it put a little smile on Tsunade's

"Good morning Jiraiya. What is this all about?" she asked, looking at the really good looking meal that was next to her. Jiraiya felt some kind of relief when he heard her talking. Still she didn't seem so humorous but was definitely better than yesterday.

"Your breakfast. I thought you would be hungry when you wake up so I brought you that. Not the traditional breakfast but I think you will like it. Don't take too long since we have a long day ahead and we should leave soon"

"I see, I won't lose time then" she said, already taking a bit of one of the toasts "Thank you" she said, mouthful.

"More than welcome" He couldn't help the little laugh that escaped his mouth at the image of Tsunade talking with his mouth full of food and her crazy hair. Luckily, she didn't notice it.

Since it was such a sensible day Jiraiya decided to treat Tsunade especially well, so undesired thoughts would stay away from her mind. Thirty years ago Dan, her love, died in her hands during the war. Since that day, Tsunade changed forever; she closed her heart and decided not to open it to anyone else again. She didn't want to see anyone else loved by her die again.

Even though Jiraiya hated Dan for some obvious reasons, he also had to admit that he was a really nice man, and a better option than himself for Tsunade. Dan was a kind and respected shinobi and most important, he treated Tsunade as she deserved. Even though seeing them together brought a pain to Jiraiya's chest every time, he always greeted Dan with a smile in his face because he made Tsunade happy and that was all that mattered in the end. Seeing her smile again after the loss of her beloved brother was enough for Jiraiya to repair his wounded heart. Or at least not to totally break it.

When Tsunade finished her breakfast, she got out of bed and took a quick shower. She got out of the bathroom full dressed and with her wet hair tied in her usual two ponytails.

"Ready to go Jiraiya" she said, right after packing her pajamas. It was the only thing that she unpacked the day before, since the only thing she had done was lay in bed and look at the ceiling.

"Let's go then"

Tsunade was already heading to the door when her teammate passed her quickly and gently opened the door for her

"Ladies first" he said with a funny smile

"Then it's you who should pass first" Tsunade replied, smirking and exiting the room, leaving a surprised Jiraiya after her _This woman… is she sad or in the mood to mock me? I can't understand her… But I guess is a good signal after all_. After looking at the room for some seconds to see if they had left something, he closed the room and went to meet Tsunade.

* * *

They had been walking for an hour or so and so far the conversations they had had were all so plain and even boring at some times. They were the kind of conversations that you have with someone you have just met and of course not at all the ones they were having the first day. That made Jiraiya confirm that even if she was at least talking now, she was still hurt and the problem wasn't fixed at all.

"Hey Tsunade, we are going quite well so, why don't we take a rest? There are some really good baths not far away from here. I invite you, and before you say anything they are not mixed so I don't pl…" he was saying when she suddenly interrupted him

"Jiraiya" The little smile that was on Jiraiya's face when talking slowly disappeared at her serious tone. She didn't look at him when talking "You don't have to treat me well because it's been thirty years since Dan died today"

Jiraiya's eyes widened for a second before turning his head to face the ground. Caught. Couldn't he treat her especially for no reason?

"It was very painful but it happened thirty years ago. There's nothing left now, so don't pity me. I feel like some kind of abandoned dog that everyone looks with sorrow"

His gaze was now on her. He didn't believe a word she said. It wasn't hard to tell seeing her since she saw the newspaper. She behaved totally different and the spark in her eyes had vanished.

"I wouldn't be so sure, you have been acting strange since yesterday Hime"

"I admit that some memories hit me, but that's all. Memories of the past. You don't have to treat me specially or anything. I'm fine" she said, looking at him and putting on her face one of the fakest smiles that Jiraiya has seen in his life. He knew that she was downplaying the situation, maybe to act tough.

She was in fact, lying. Every year in this date of course she remembered Dan and all the beautiful moments that they had spent together, how much they loved each other… It was a nostalgic day on the calendar that, the last few years, she usually spent walking around Konoha looking at the village that she swore to protect in his memory. But that was it. She remembered him but never broke as much as she has the last two days. Most of the time she has been lost in her thoughts was to know why she was feeling this way now, and a conclusion that she didn't like at all reached her mind; some hidden feelings were fighting along with Dan's memories. Feelings of love towards the man next to her. But what kind of love? She was thinking so much about Dan trying to remember how she felt when she was with him, when she talked with him… To see if they were the same feelings as the ones she was having now in this travel. She loved Dan deeply and if she felt the same way when doing all that with Jiraiya it meant that… But then again, love someone? For what? To lose them again? To see them dying in front of her again? She didn't want to pass through that again… But the hug with Jiraiya from the night before came again and again to her mind. A hug in which she felt safe, she felt as if nothing could hurt any of them as long as they were together. As if nothing could hurt her if he was with her. After all, he would die for her right?

"You're right, my fault." Tsunade shook her head to quit those thoughts from her mind when her teammate started talking "I forgot that you're the Godaime, the strongest kunoichi out here. Let's keep on then until we arrive"

Tsunade just nodded at his words and the both of them keep walking silently.

* * *

The sunset was about to happen when they reached the last village planned for the day. They arrived before than expected since they only stopped half an hour to eat, and there were no more distractions. They had talked, but after the little incident Tsunade spoke even less. Most of the time it was Jiraiya talking stories about his travels and telling her funny stories to cheer her up, every time without any result. When they arrived, Jiraiya automatically headed to the inn when Tsunade grabbed his sleeve from behind

"It's still early and this seems a nice village. Why don't we take a walk before locking ourselves in a shabby room?"

Jiraiya was surprised to see her saying that. He thought that she would want to go straight to the inn since she wasn't in a good mood. To be honest, he didn't want to go to the room either.

"Sounds like a good idea, Hime"

The village was quite big and especially beautiful since the sunset was bathing all the places in it. Jiraiya had been before in some of his travels so he didn't hesitate to show Tsunade some of it's places, such as some of the traditional shops that were there, the market or the park. He was showing her the place with an illusion that Tsunade didn't share. In fact, since they started their tour she had barely spoken, and it didn't seem like she was enjoying the walk at all. Most of the time she was facing the ground. Suddenly, she finally lifted it and Jiraiya didn't need more than a second to realize what was what caught her attention: the bar. _So that's why you wanted to take a walk, uh? To know where it was_ He thought. They were just in front of the local bar, which looked kind of run-down. It was ugly and careless and the few people who were inside didn't seem so friendly.

"Tsunade, no." Jiraiya said seriously. The intense focus of Tsunade's stare in the bar made him grab her from her arm "We are on an important mission, there's no time for drinking. Plus, you shouldn't do it now" Even Jiraiya was surprised at his words. He dissuading Tsunade from drinking wasn't very usual, not at all in fact. But even someone like him could see that drinking wasn't the right thing for her to do now.

"Just a drink won't kill anyone" she said, stepping forward. As soon as she did so, Jiraiya tightened his grab, which made Tsunade turn around to face her white haired teammate who was seriously looking at her

"Tsunade, leave it. We will go drinking together when we finish the mission. Just don't go now" a worried look appeared in his face when saying so.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, looked at his grab and with a quick arm movement she freed from it, contemptuously. "Then let's go to have dinner and then to the inn" She said, leaving a concerned Jiraiya behind.

After a short and rather calm dinner, they went to the inn. There, as always, Jiraiya went to take a room and happiness filled him when hearing that there was a room with two individual beds available. He had so little sleep the night before and the armchair killed his back that he couldn't be more excited to have his own bed now. At times like these he remembered that he wasn't that young anymore. Tsunade just stayed back, as every time, seeing her teammate taking the key to their room.

Since they had been in front of the bar, Tsunade's face changed. She didn't seem so sad anymore, instead an evil expression appeared on her face. She looked as if she was planning something, and something rather bad.

After they both took a shower and prepared, they headed to bed. They got in at the same time, and Jiraiya was about to switch off the lights when he stopped

"Hime, I'm here in case you wanna talk, I hope you know that"

"I know it" she said, covering herself even more with the blankets and turning around to give her back to Jiraiya, as if she wanted to hide from the conversation that the man had started

"I guess you don't want to talk now, uh?" his usual ironic tone appeared

"I'm okay Jiraiya, there's nothing to talk about. Just a bad date, that's all. It will soon go out of my mind. Let's sleep, I'm tired"

"Okay, okay" he said, switching off the lights. Of course he didn't believe it but there was nothing he could do if she didn't want to talk. Plus, because of the lack of sleep he was very tired and didn't have the energy to fight for a conversation "By the way, I hope you cheer up soon and that the real Tsunade returns soon" he said while turning around and slipping in bed, covering with the blankets. "I truly miss her"

Jiraiya's eyes shut while Tsunade's opened up wide.

* * *

An hour later, Jiraiya was snoring loud in his deep sleep. The straight position in which he started his sleep had disappeared at that point, and he was rather spread-eagled covering the whole bed with his big body. Tsunade was looking at him standing right beside his bed with her clothes on and a little smile appeared on her face at that sight. It remembered her of when they were younger, when Jiraiya would take all the space in the tent when they went on missions because of his sleep positions. She remembered her and Orochimaru constantly criticizing him for that, and the laughs they had while doing so. The good old times.

But now wasn't time to get nostalgic. It was time to go. Tome to be alone. She did a Kage Bunshin that replaced her in bed in order to trick Jiraiya if he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and after taking her money, she headed to the door, which she opened carefully not to awake her teammate. Before exiting, she took a look at the man who was sleeping pleasantly

"I don't know if this is what the real Tsunade would do. If not, I am sorry." She thought, before finally leaving the room.

Jiraiya opened his eyes slowly, and was happy to see that it was still nighttime. The room was totally in the dark, so there were still so many hours of sleep ahead. He just moved a bit to get himself more comfortable when a weird sensation hit him. A sensation of loneliness, of emptiness. That he was alone in the room. He quickly turned to his right to find _Tsunade_ sleeping in her bed. A relief sensation appeared in his chest that lasted for a second, before narrowing his eyes and grabbing the kunai that was hidden under his pillow just in case anyone attacked at night. Without thinking it twice, he threw it at the woman in front of him right to the diamond in her forehead. A big cloud of smoke followed the hit of the thrown kunai on the wall.

"Dammit!" he said, waking up as fast as he could. He quickly put on his clothes and with his heart beating at the speed of light and about to get out of his chest he left the room, quite sure of where he had to search.

When he arrived to the bar, it seemed even worse than in the evening. The little beauty that the sun rays of the sunset gave was gone and it was now dark and creepy. As seen before, the building was totally unattended, with dirt all around it and the facade had many of its points broken. He tried to recall the last time he had been in such a horrible place but it was so far in his memory. Before entering, Jiraiya closed his eyes, hoping he wouldn't find Tsunade there. But when he opened the door, he did.

Tsunade was on the corner of the bar, with a trembling body that was totally leant forward. She had her head buried in both her arms which were crossed on the table. Anyone could see that the woman was about to pass out. Jiraiya took a quick look at the bar; inside it was even creepier that in the outside. One of the lights went on and off constantly giving a really terrific atmosphere. Apart from the incredible amount of dirt, another thing caught Jiraiya's attention; next to Tsunade there were four men sitting in a table. It wasn't difficult to see that they were staring at the blonde, constantly checking her from her toes to her head. The only thought of those men putting a finger on Tsunade gave Jiraiya a shiver down his spine and the incredible desire of punching them. Still, he took a deep breath and quickly reached Tsunade.

"We are gonna leave this place right now, Hime" he said, putting his hand on her right shoulder. It didn't stay there for long. Tsunade quickly took it away with her left hand. She lifted her head a bit, and turned it just so she could look at Jiraiya right in the eyes

"Don't touch me, and don't call me like that, I have always fucking hated it". When she opened her mouth a breeze full of the smell of sake hit Jiraiya's nose. The words leaving her mouth were barely understandable. She was very drunk, so even if her words surprised him, he didn't give them much importance"Tsunade, you shouldn't be here let's…."

"Is this man bothering you, beauty?"

Jiraiya turned around to the voice of a man right behind him. He quickly realized that there were four, and were the ones sitting in the table next to Tsunade.

"If he is we can get him ride of you" Jiraiya's eyebrow raised and a smirk formed in his face at those words. He couldn't help it. Did they really thought that they had a chance? They choose the wrong man.

"Yes, he's bothering me" Tsunade replied, lifting her head and looking at the five men behind her "Could you please teach him not to pity women?" An evil smile was on her face.

Suddenly, one of the men threw a straight punch directly into Jiraiya's face that he didn't even bother to dodge. He firmly caught it with his right hand just before it could touch him. He didn't have time to speak when a second man threw a high kick to hit the sannin's head. Without freeing the hand of the first aggressor, he crouched and without much effort eluded the not very professional kick of the man. When his leg was right above Jiraiya's head, the white haired man grabbed it with his free hand and when standing up, he threw both men some meters away with a little of his strength. The other two comrades were standing still, looking with such feared eyes a Jiraiya who was now ready to speak

"Tsunade this is ridiculous, why don't we…" he was saying while turning around to face her, when suddenly something made him stop. An incredible, unbearable and rather familiar pain hit him in the stomach. It just took him one second to see Tsunade standing, with her fist deep into his stomach. The strength of the punch made him flew various meters backwards before hitting his back with the bar's wall and falling to the ground, sitting. Because of the pain, he could open just one eye. And he was lucky that he could even do that. The punch and the hit against the wall afterwards had been tremendous. His whole body ached and for now he could barely move. Many years had passed since the last time she punched him like that. With his only eye opened, he looked at her.

And she looked totally different from some minutes ago. The evil smile and stare in her eyes disappeared, and now she was standing still, looking at him with horrified eyes and expression.

"What was that, Hime?" he managed to say. Even speaking was a hard work in his state. He was looking right into her eyes, but there was no answer. She was still petrified and horrified. When speaking, he realized why. There was blood gushing from his mouth. With much pain, he took his hand to his mouth and washed the blood away. Jiraiya didn't even gave importance to it. The woman in front of him who seemed like she was seeing a ghost caught his attention more.

And indeed, she was seeing one. Jiraiya had disappeared from his vision and instead of him, it was Dan who was sitting against the wall, bleeding not only from his mouth but from his whole body, with wounds everywhere. Tsunade looked at her hands, covered in blood same as the night he died

"Are you going to cover your hands with blood of another loved one again Tsunade?"

Dan's words hit her like a train. She knew he was dead. He died thirty years ago, but why was that happening now? Why was he appearing in her mind, why all this emotions and thoughts… why now? One explanation had been around her mind the whole day, but refused to accept it. Plus, all the bottles of sake that were in her body probably had something to do too. Her whole body was shaking and was unable to move. All the same feelings from that night were drowning her.

"Tsunade!"

Suddenly Dan's image disappeared, and now Jiraiya was standing in front of her, looking at her deep in her eyes and grabbing both her shoulders. Tsunade quickly realized that he was having a bad time trying to stay standing, but his grip on her shoulders was strong.

"Enough of this, we are leaving this place right now and we are going to solve this situation already"

She only had time to nod when Jiraiya grabbed her from her legs and put her on his shoulder, with her head on his back. Jiraiya wasn't the only one who had problems to stay standing. Because of the alcohol in her blood Tsunade's body was trembling the whole time and carrying her would be faster. Even though she showed some refuse at first, kicking and punching Jiraiya, he didn't free her. His body still ached but recovered quite much and now the pain was at least bearable. When Tsunade stopped moving and hitting him, he headed to the door and finally left that creepy place.

* * *

They were hallway to the inn when Tsunade started moving again, asking for Jiraiya to free her.

"Tsunade I'm not going to…"

"Jiraiya leave me in the ground right now or I'll throw up in your back"

When hearing that, Jiraiya sighed and left her on the ground. He wanted to arrive to their room, lay down and take a rest so badly that the interruption annoyed him, but he understood that there was no other choice.

Tsunade barely walked to a little alley that was near them, knelt and started throwing up. Jiraiya sighed and knelt beside her, gently pulling her beautiful blonde hair back so it wouldn't stain and looked in both ways of the streets, seeing if someone was approaching. Seeing Konoha's Hokage like that wouldn't be so good for her reputation.

Suddenly, his gaze returned to the woman next to him when he felt some grab on his clothes. It was obviously Tsunade who was grabbing his clothes tightly and burying her face in them.

"Why…. Why did he have to die?" Jiraiya felt some warm feeling on his clothes now. Tsunade's warm tears were falling on them "I loved him… why did he have to die? Everything would be easier now if he was alive. This wouldn't be happening" her grab on his clothes tightened and tears flooded. Her voice was heartbreaking.

But wasn't the only thing heartbroken. Jiraiya was looking at her, concerned, worried. He knew very well that Dan was the love of her life and he had surrendered in that war long ago, but still those words hit him harder than the punch in the bar. A pain appeared in his chest, not only because of her words but also for seeing her like this. So much pain in one night. But he had to be strong. There was no point in falling now. In the end, even though he didn't expect her love for Dan was still so strong, he understood very well that when you love someone deeply, years pass by but love stays on. He lifted his big arms and hugged Tsunade tight, pulling her closer.

"I'm sorry Tsunade, I'm sorry you have to pass through all of this" he said softly, gently caressing her blonde hair. Jiraiya's warm embrace had her getting even closer and smoothly rubbing her face against his chest as a response.

But in Tsunade's mind everything sounded different. She wasn't really mourning Dan _"Why did he have to die? If he hadn't everything would be easier now, I would be with him, we would be together… And I wouldn't be here wondering if I love you or worse… if I love you more than I loved him. I wouldn't be here remembering everything that happened to Nawaki and Dan horrified at the thought of it happening to you if I open my heart again…But is this really love or just friendly love? You're my best friend and after all we have known each other since we were little…But lately I'm feeling as if nothing could ever harm me if I'm with you, I'm feeling stronger, I'm feeling comfortable, I'm feeling… happy, as happened when I was with Dan… We've been together for so much time, we have known each other since we were kids and suddenly, after just some days with you all these feelings and.. Love? Emerge. I don't know what the hell this is… but I don't want to lose you"_ her teeth gritted unconsciously at this thought, and tears flooded even more. All this sadness the last two days, all these thoughts and feelings because of the fear of loving someone again and seeing him die _"I don't want to fall in love with you Jiraiya… I don't want to lose you… Maybe if I distance you I…"_

"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this Tsunade. I know how much you suffered when you lost your brother and Dan. But believe me, even if you feel like it, you're not alone. You have never been and you will never be. I'm with you, and I won't let you fall in that hole again. I won't let your beautiful face to be messed up with those tears of you anymore. Memories are a precious treasure of us but we have to move on, even if it hurts. And I will help you to move, I will carry you if it's necessary and we will share the pain during the way so you don't ever have to suffer again" Tsunade lifted her head to look at Jiraiya. When his onyx eyes met her amber ones, a sudden blush appeared on his face and instantly brought his gaze to another place, while rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. Tsunade chuckled at that image; it wasn't common to see Jiraiya blushing, or even embarrassed. His words made Tsunade forget all her problems all of a sudden. Her mind was now blank, as if all the fog had vanished with his words. All her focus now was on her teammate.

"You know…" he started talking again, now looking at the empty street "I know that I am not Dan, not even close. And well, both you and I know I'm a hopeless case but… I will never leave you Hime, you can be sure about it and…" he stopped when he heard Tsunade's soft laugh "What?"

"The great Jiraiya comparing himself to another man? And even saying that you're worse? It doesn't really fit you" An annoyed look appeared on Jiraiya's face, the same one as when he was just a kid. He was glad to hear her talking sarcastically again, as usual, but after all he had just spoken with his heart open up wide and the woman in front of him decided to answer funnily. For Tsunade, it was harder to express herself. Her feelings about everything had been locked since Dan died, and now she wasn't used to talk about such serious things as the ones Jiraiya had spoken, but as soon as she realized the look on her teammates face and probably thanks to the amount of sake in her body, the padlock opened. She lifted her right arm and gently put her hand on Jiraiya's cheek, softly caressing it. "I know it Jiraiya, I know you have always been there and that you'll always will. And I really can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me. Once again, you have saved me." a smile appeared on Tsunade's face that, for the first time in the last days, was real. It quickly spread to the man who was grabbing her tightly, showing a big, pure and kind smile. They stayed like that for some seconds, looking at each other smiling and enjoying the other's smile. Jiraiya loved seeing Tsunade smile because he thought that there was nothing more beautiful like that, not even the most stunning of the sunsets. Plus, he felt happiness all over him at such amazing sight. Tsunade loved seeing Jiraiya smile because she had always loved his smile. In her opinion, he could get everything he wanted just with it. It was so gentle and pure that you felt your own body and even soul warmed, revitalized with just looking at it. Both of them could have stayed like that for the rest of the night, but Tsunade's sudden yawn broke their stare.

"It's getting late. We should return to the inn already, don't you think? Are you better?" Jiraiya said, freeing the woman from his tight hug, something he didn't enjoy doing.

"Yeah, I am" she said, while getting up awkwardly. When she finally stood up, she tripped with her first step, but Jiraiya got her fast before she could totally fall.

"I think you and I have different concepts about being well, Tsunade." The man's loud laugh echoed in the empty streets "Let me carry you" gently, he got her in his back, with her head on his right shoulder. She didn't refuse the invitation. After all, they both knew she wasn't able to make even one step in her condition "You okay?" he said, trying to place her as comfortable as he could and placing his hand on the back of her tights firmly so she wouldn't fall.

"Yeah" she muttered

"Let's get going then" As soon as he started walking, the pain of Tsunade's punch hit him hard which made his body arch. He had totally forgot about it. Clenching his teeth, he tried to ignore it and moved forward.

"And you? Are you okay?" Tsunade's words made Jiraiya jump a bit. He was so focused on the pain that he didn't expect her talking "I hit you hard before… I'm sorry Jiraiya". Her voice sounded totally sleepy.

"Who do you think I am? I'm the Toad Sage from Mount Myoboku. If you think a punch like that can even bother me you're totally wrong. Moreover, you hit harder when you were younger. Now that you're a granny you're getting weaker" a little laugh escaped from Tsunade's mouth. Her stupid teammate… "Anyways… I might need some of your healing skills tomorrow morning Him… I mean, Tsunade"

"Okay..." she said, this time burying her face in the white long hair of his teammate and placing her head as comfortable as she could. "Anyways Jiraiya… I was lying before. I don't hate it when you call me Hime… Not at all. In fact… I love it. You're the only one that calls me like that. It reminds me of when we were young, and every time you say it I feel kind of…. Loved. Please, don't stop calling me like that…."

When Jiraiya turned his head around to answer her, she was already totally asleep.

"Don't worry Hime, I won't stop calling you like that. After all, you'll always be my princess"

A big smile graced his face while he carried her on his back through the empty streets, headed to the inn.


	5. Chapter 5: The festival

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, I've been very busy the last weeks so I couldn't upload this chapter but finally, here it is! And it is the largest one so far, as an apologize for such a long wait!**

 **Let's leave the talk for the end. I hope you enjoy this chapter! And don't forget to tell me what you think about it in a review :)**

 **There we go!**

* * *

This time, Tsunade was the first one to wake up. Already aware of the strong headache she was suffering, her eyes opened slowly so the light coming from the window wouldn't kill her. To her surprise, the sun rays trespassing into the room were still very weak. When she totally opened them, she realized that it was early, very early in fact. Tsunade wasn't really tired and she knew the familiar pain she was bearing in her head once again in her life wouldn't let her sleep again, so she sat on the edge of the bed and decided to take a shower. Before heading to the bathroom, she couldn't resist looking at her teammate who was deep in his sleep on the bed next to hers. Still sleepy and rubbing her eyes, Tsunade couldn't help but smile at the view. Jiraiya was spread all over the bed, with the sheets barely covering any part of his body and snoring out loud. His white long hair was covering his face and Tsunade found it funny how the ones covering his mouth lifted with each snore, sometimes even getting into the mouth of the sannin and getting him grumping in his sleep. He was such a mess. One thing Tsunade realized was that he was wearing his pajamas as usual, but she wasn't. She still had her street clothes on _He didn't even dare changing me onto my pajamas_ she thought, while heading to the shower laughing softly.

When she got out, Jiraiya was still sleeping and she didn't want to wake him up. Some moments of the night before were blurred in Tsunade's mind but she could remember seeing him tired and getting him punched, so she didn't want to wake him up. He deserved some sleep after all. Tsunade saw this moment as her opportunity to be alone for a moment, to think and this time get it all straight for once so she quietly left the room and headed to the inn's roof.

Sat on the roof and looking at the sun that was still rising, Tsunade was lost in her thoughts. _Well, I'm tired of thinking and this time will be the last for a long time. Things are that in the last days I've been feeling overly attached to that idiot, mixed with some strange feelings… Feelings that I haven't felt since Dan was with me._ She got her knees to her chest and buried er face in them _I loved Dan, I was sure about it when I got these feelings so… It can only mean one thing._ Love. Love again. Love for her teammate. A shiver ran down her spine. Love again. Break again. _But I've been with him since I have memory, and now, suddenly and in a matter of days this comes up? What the hell._ She got her knees closer to her chest _Well, I guess he has always been special to me. He has always been there and even if I had never admitted it and always acted as if I hated him, I really cared for that idiot. I was always putting my eyes on him. I loved my team, Orochimaru and Sarutobi-sensei were important to me but… Along with Dan and Nawaki, he was the person I cared about the most._ Tsunade smiled unconsciously. _All these years knowing he was important to me and I just come to realize that he has always been more than that. How idiot._ But if she wanted, he could be even more important in her life. Was she going to…. _Not in a million years. I have suffered enough in my life, don't want to go through it again._ Tsunade relaxed and leant backwards, laying on the roof and placing her hands under her head _I'm already old enough to get into these love stories. Even if I really love him, it's better if things stay like this. Plus, Jiraiya is a shinobi so in any mission he can di..._ Tsunade didn't even finish the thought. She abruptly sat up, eyes widened and breathing fast. The only thought of him dying got her heart skipping beats and cold sweat running down her face. She closed her eyes and tried to relax her tense muscles. He was okay and was going to be okay. Dying sure wasn't on the plans of that idiot. After all, he had sworn to walk all the way with her, never leaving her. Then, memories of the night before speech's' came. All the things that he told her… he really meant them? They were the most beautiful and kind words she has heard in a long time, and probably in her whole life. He was always so gentle with everyone, but especially with her. Tsunade couldn't count the times he has saved her.

Relaxing a bit but still with her nerves on, she opened her eyes and looked at the sun which was already shining bright on top of the sky _Even if I love him this relationship can't get any further than friendship. That's how it is now and that's how it will stay._ She stood up, and after staring at the sun for some minutes she headed to the room. It was already time to wake up an idiot. Her idiot.

When she entered the room, the white haired sannin was in the same exact position as when she had left him _if it was for him, he would be sleeping the whole day_. With his loud snorts in the background, she headed to her bed and grabbed the pillow that was on it. She got to the corner of the room, distancing from his teammate's bed and lifted her arm with the pillow in her hand.

"Time to wake up you idiot!" she yelled, throwing strongly the pillow to Jiraiya's face causing the man to suddenly sat on bed, eyes opened up wide, breathing fast and red faced because of the hit

"What? What is it, what happens?!" he shouted, moving his head from right to left fast, scanning the room searching for anything strange

"Are you planning on waking up today or do I come back next week?"

The woman's words caused Jiraiya to pierce his eyes on her. She was in the corner of the room, smiling at her teammate who had his hair spread all around and spiker than usual, including a red face. It made Tsunade realize that it was a strong hit, but nothing he couldn't bear.

"You know, _you have really funny hair when you wake up_ " she said, smiling evilly.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and sighed at her words "You are crazy woman". He was still sleepy, but couldn't help but rejoice at seeing her joking again. Leaning back again in the bed, the wound from yesterday's punch hurt again so he stopped midways leaning on one elbow and placed his free hand on his stomach "Ouch"

"You always tell me I'm not a morning person, but it seems you aren't either uh?" she said, walking next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder "How are you? It still hurts?" A sweet and caring voice escaped from her lips.

"It does when I move, but nothing I can't handle" he said, this time totally laying on the bed "I guess I'm getting old" a soft laugh followed his own words, eyes already closed.

"I guess so" Tsunade replied. She carefully sat on the edge of his bed and smoothly slipped both her hands through the kimono Jiraiya used to sleep, reaching the wound and placing her hands on it, green chakra glowing. The feeling of her hands on his skin made the white haired sannin open his eyes in surprise, something Tsunade noticed.

"What? Don't look at me so surprised. You told me yesterday to heal you a bit today, remember?"

"What surprises me Hime is that _you_ actually remember it" a big smile appeared on his face as soon as he said it, but it didn't last long; Tsunade's deadly glare on him made it vanish "Just joking, just joking" there it was the smile again, this time smaller.

As soon as Tsunade's hands touched Jiraiya's abdomen, it hit her. The warm feeling under her hands. His warmth. She had forgotten how warm he was and how it had saved her many times before in their mission, when they slept out in the wild and the cold was freezing. Usually they slept in tents and every time she would sleep between both her team mates as they would never let her sleep in one of the corners. It was their way to protect her, even if they three and their sensei knew it wasn't necessary since Tsunade could smack any ninja that could go her way. Jiraiya was always the first one of them three to fall asleep and, if the cold was intense she never missed the chance of leaning closer to him and take some of his warmth. He was like a human heat for her, even if he never knew it. Tsunade had always wondered where all that heat came from and smiled when she remembered the answer she thought for that question a few years after starting wondering it " _It probably comes from his heart"._

"Glad to see you smiling at memories again, Hime"

The man's words brought her back to the present. She placed her amber eyes on his face, which showed a sincere smile that spread to her own.

"You can tell me doctor, am I going to make it?" his smile turned into his usual funny smirk

"Unfortunately, it seems you will" she tried to be as serious as she could saying it "Just a bit more and I'll be over"

"You can take as much time as you want, Hime" His words made Tsunade's cheeks redden a bit, but focused in her work. Although she was a professional and had healed thousands of people and Jiraiya himself a hundred times, now it felt a bit different, even slightly awkward. She didn't know why but both being silence while she had her hands slipped through his kimono was making her… kind of uncomfortable, so she decided to open a conversation.

"So how are we going? I mean, will we arrive on time?"

"To the meeting?" Jiraiya looked very calm. He didn't feel uncomfortable at all "Sure. We are going quite well so I think we will arrive there after tomorrow, on Sunday at noon more or less"

"Sunday? But the meeting is on Monday" She was looking at Jiraiya perplexed

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you" he was now rubbing the back of his head, smiling "Yesterday while you were still asleep in the morning a hawk from Konoha arrived to the inn"

"What?" the tone of her voice was higher than expected and it made Jiraiya jump in the bed "What happens? Is everything okay?" sudden concern appeared on her face

"Relax, relax! Or wrinkles will ruin your face Hime" he laughed, even though he knew it was no time for jokes "Everything's okay. Shizune sent us that hawk to inform us that, apart from the meeting on Monday, you have to attend a dinner with the other kages on Sunday. Something like an inauguration act of the meeting."

"You have to be kidding me" she carefully slipped her hands out of his kimono and walked backwards, until she reached her bed and let herself fall on it "I would have preferred to hear that something happened in Konoha than attending another boring meeting"

Jiraiya, now sat on the bed, laughed out loud at her words, and attempted to cheer his teammate a bit "Well, it is a dinner, not a meeting so there will be food and, if you're lucky, maybe sake"

"I think I had enough of it yesterday for a long time" talking about it, she sat in bed when something from the night before popped in her mind "Talking about yesterday, after my punch you hit hard against the wall. Is your back okay?"

"It hurts a bit but nothing to worry about Hime I…"

"Then roll over and take the upper part of your kimono out. I'll take a look"

He couldn't help rising both his eyebrows and looking at her surprised. Such concern for him wasn't very usual. "Really Tsunade, what bothered me was your punch. My back doesn't hurt much, it isn't necessary"

"I don't mind taking a look, and I bother more about your back than your abdomen. The hit was hard so you might have some little damage in the cervical spine. I'll be more relaxed if I take a look" she walked determinedly to him, who was looking at her with a strange look "And don't try to act cool. You're already an old man"

Jiraiya smirked and, seeing that he didn't have any other option, he rolled over in bed placing his face on the pillow while slipping the upper part of his kimono down his spine, showing his bare muscular back. When he laid completely, he folded his arms under hear head to lean it on them and waited for Tsunade to start acting. "Totally yours Hime"

But Tsunade didn't listen the sneaky words of the white haired man. Her attention was on something else; it was in all the scars that adorned his wide back. There were plenty of them and along with the scars a redness because of the hit of the night before could be seen. And he said it didn't hurt much. _You liar_

"You have… so many" she said, tracing the biggest one with her index finger, softly. The scar was a straight diagonal line that went from the center of his back to the lower-left part

"What, scars? I guess they come with being a shinobi right?"

"Yes, but you have plenty of them. I have never seen so many in a person… Well, that was still alive"

"Well, I think that makes me pretty rough then" a laugh escaped from the man's mouth

"That makes you stupid. Try to take care of yourself more, you idiot" Her serious voice stopped Jiraiya's little laugh

"I don't really care about the ones that are left in my body." He oved a bit on the bed, turning his face to face Tsunade's" The real scars… there's no gear that can protect us from them, don't you think?" his words sounded more serious than they were meant to be and he immediately regret saying them when he saw Tsunade's face turn so serious. Damn it, after yesterday's incident, after all her suffer he just lighted the spark of the fire again. How could he…

"I guess you're right, but that comes with being a shinobi too, doesn't it? It doesn't seem you have much damage after all, so I'll finish fast here"

Jiraiya sighed in relief after her words. Along with it, a sensation of joy flowed through his body. It seemed that Tsunade was decided not to fall in that hole again. However, better not to touch that point too much.

"Anyways Hime" he buried his face in his big folded arms again, this time totally relaxing and letting his whole body in her delicate hands "I'm sure you know most of them"

He was right. After a longer look, Tsunade realized that she had already seen most of the scars on Jiraiya's body. Many of them where healed by her hands, after all. Some of them were made during the war, but many others were from missions, consequences of the knucklehead that was lying in bed. One of the scars caught Tsunade's attention specially. It was across his back, from left to right below the middle of it. It was easy to tell from its appearance that it was quite older than the ones surrounding it

"I can't believe you still have the one from when Sarutobi-sensei tied you to that tree the first day" the bed started to move when the man busted into laughter

"That's one of my favorites!"

"You tried so hard to scape that you wouldn't stop moving and scarped all your back with the wood" Tsunade laughed at the memories of her brat teammate trying desperately to escape. "How could you be so stupid?"

"I have learnt since then"

"Don't lie. You would probably do the same again, and again" Jiraiya laughed once again. He couldn't help it. Remembering the old memories was something he enjoyed, and even more if it was with Tsunade.

"I guess you're right, but only if you were there. Men only do such thing to impress women"

Tsunade looked at him perplexed. Was he trying to impress her back at that time?

"If you were trying to impress me it didn't turn out very well" she said, smirking

"Well, we also had a bet"

"Which I won" an evil smile appeared now on her lips, recalling the sweet time in which she won against him

"Probably the only one you have won in your entire life" he was looking at her, with a smirk as evil as the already faded smile that was in his teammate. It didn't last long though, when he felt a hard slap in his back that left the red silhouette of Tsunade's hand.

"Finished." She said, leaving Jiraiya's side and standing up. Her face showed a smile full of satisfaction. That slap in his back really felt good. "Dress up and let's get going or we'll never arrive"

Still rubbing the redden area of his back with his right hand, he just nodded at her and slowly sat on the edge, standing up" Now that you mention it, we have a long journey today so…" When he looked at her face, words stopped from leaving his mouth. She was standing still in front of him across the room looking at him firmly, eyes widened and a face redder than his back "Tsunade? Are you alright?"

She was alright. So very right indeed. He just couldn't get her eyes off of what was standing in front of her. Jiraiya's bare torso was taking all her attention. She had seen it many times before when they were out on missions, but it has never been so good, not even when they were twenty. He was totally muscular, a body built during the years. Every muscle on his body could be seen, totally and roughly defined in his magnificent form. The pectorals in his chest were wide and his abdomen was totally solid. All that, along with his strong full arms and his height made him look herculean. Not a gram of fat could be spotted anywhere in his large being. She had seen so many bare chests in her life, but never in her life a body so well-toned, and even less in someone in his fifties. It was, in fact, perfect.

"Tsunade?"

The man's words took her back to reality, and getting even redder and quite nervous wondering if he had realized what she was staring at, she managed to talk "DRESS UP YOU PERVERT" and quickly ran to the bathroom, slamming the door. Jiraiya stood still for some seconds, blinking fast and trying to process what had happened. In the end, he came up to one realization "That woman is crazy"

* * *

"HOW MANY HOURS HAVE WE BEEN WALKING?!"

Tsunade's sudden screams caught Jiraiya so off guard that he couldn't help but jump at the screams of the woman beside him.

"Woah Tsunade calm down" he was covering his right ear, partially deafened by those shouts

"The damn sun is setting already and we've been walking non-stop since our only stop for lunch. Where the hell is that village? And why did you plan such a long journey today? Do you want to kill me?" the vein in her forehead was starting to grow as the seconds passed.

"We should be there anytime. In fact, the village is behind that hill over there". He pointed at a not very tall hill that was, still, meters away from them. His voice was very calm, trying to relax his teammate.

"Let's hurry up then. My feet hurt" she started walking faster until she was some meters ahead.

"Who goes on a long journey in high-heels" A shiver went down his spine when he felt Tsunade's deadly stare on him. Her fist was clenched and ready to hit. "Just joking just joking!" When she stopped staring at him, he sighed in relief.

"Sometimes I hate you so much Jiraiya"

"Well, thank you I guess"

"I mean" her feet stopped moving and placed both hands on her waist, waiting for Jiraiya to catch her "Making me Hokage. Why did you have to do so? I wouldn't be here on a stupid journey to a stupid meeting"

"Well, I never thought Orochimaru was an option" Jiraiya started laughing loudly

"Idiot" she started, moving beside him when he finally reached her "But why me? At that time Konoha was nothing for me. Why did my name even poop in your mind? It had been years since the last time we had met"

"You were the only one suitable for the job" he ignored the last question. There was no point in saying that, even after all those years, she hadn't left his mind not even for a second.

"What about you?"

Jiraiya's eyebrows automatically lifted at her words, along with a funny smile "Are you really asking me why I rejected it? You should know by now that I am not made to be a Hokage. Filling papers, attending meetings and solving the village problems aren't my best qualities. Especially when I'm the one who usually creates the problems"

Without realizing it, they were almost on top of the hill already

"Leaving all that behind, I think you would be a great Hokage" Jiraiya was now looking at her totally surprised "Even if you always try to act tough, you love the village. I don't have any doubt you'd give your life for it"

The man's face turned from a surprised one to his usual smirk "I guess you're right there. I don't mind dying after the things I love after all" Jiraiya was so absorbed in his new thoughts about how his life would be if he was the Hokage that he didn't notice the absence of his friend next to him. His last words had Tsunade frozen some meters behind, looking at him wide opened. He didn't mind dying for the things he loved. He didn't mind dying for her, not at all. Then, was that…

"Hey Tsunade! You should see this!"

Tsunade shook her head, shaking away her thoughts and hurried to reach Jiraiya, who was on top of the hill. When she arrived, her mouth and eyes opened at the view

The last sun rays of the days were bathing a village that was nearly as big as Konoha with an orange color that mixed with the other hundreds decorating the streets. There were hundreds of tents, each one of a different color, and the streets were totally full of people and music that could be heard even from the hill. Children could be seen running from one place to another, laughing and playing.

"Is that…" Tsunade started, escaping from the gaze of such beautiful view

"A festival? I think so"

"Then what are we doing here? Let's get some fun!" she started running downhill fast, which had Jiraiya wondering how was she able to do so with the high-heels and not falling. He laughed to himself, remembering that she was Konoha's Hokage after all and ran after her, heading to the village.

* * *

They were on the village's main street surrounded by hundreds of people but both of them, especially Tsunade, were amazed by such place. Music was everywhere, thousands of colors decorated the streets and the air was full of joy and laughter. When the sun finally hide and the moon appeared, the street lamps lighted, making it an even more beautiful place. The temperature was perfect and staying outside was delightful.

There were many little shops in the streets, each and every one different from the others. Many of them had things for sale of all kinds, and many others had game in them so people would test they luck. The two sannins spent hours around the last ones, betting in every single one they found interesting, and losing every time. Suddenly, a little shop caught Tsunade's attention. It had a big wheel on the center of it, full of color and prizes. It was divided in many sections and depending on which one it stopped, your earnt one prize or another. You could win from a kid's toy to fair amounts of money

"Let's give it a try!" Tsunade said, unconsciously taking Jiraiya's hand and rushing toward the shop, getting people out of her way in the process. The man found quite strange having his hand grabbed by her, but didn't refuse to it.

Suddenly, he felt a small hand touching his shoulder from the back.

"Excuse me, sir"

"Uh?" He turned around at the voice of a young beautiful lady, dressed up in a kimono that covered her body like a glove. Her make up highlighted her big green eyes and combined perfectly with a crimson red lipstick. She caught Jiraiya's attention immediately.

"Excuse me, sir. My name's Haruka and I work in a bar for gentleman's right at the end of this street" the woman had her beautiful eyes pierced on Jiraiya, her sweet cologne's smell reaching his nose "A gentleman like you might be interested…" Carefully, she slipped her hand in her kimono and handed Jiraiya a card with the bar's name and direction "We even have a discount for being the festival" The man took the card and looked at it for a second before returning his gaze to the young woman looking at him so sensually in front of him. She was truly a beauty.

"Ohh, sounds pretty interesting If I…"

"What's going on here?" Out of nowhere, Tsunade appeared with a fiery gaze on the young woman. She suddenly felt Jiraiya stopping and letting go her hand so decided to see what was happening. "Who are you?"

"Sorry Mrs., but this only concerns men" she said, irritated by the blonde's appearance. She turned her head to look at Jiraiya again, who was now looking at Tsunade. Even more annoyed by his lack of attention on her because of Tsunade, she grabbed Jiraiya's right hand "Why don't go now? You'll have a wonderful time, I promise" her sweet tone towards the man didn't reflect how annoyed she was

Tsunade felt her stomach contract at that sight, and a shiver ran down her spine at her very last words. She said them in such a lascivious tone that really annoyed Tsunade. She was certain about not letting him doing pervert things.

"Well, sorry but he's not going anywhere" without thinking about it, she took the man's free hand between hers and pulled him closer

"And who are you to decide for him?" Haruka pulled him closer to her, making Jiraiya go from one side to another. He quite enjoyed it with a smirk. Two women were fighting for him, and one of them was Tsunade. You don't see that every day.

In fact, she was right. Tsunade was nothing more than his friend, so who was she to tell him not to go? The only thought of him leaving her made her feel some kind of pain in her chest that she didn't like at all, and which made her feel like a teenager. A teenager. She wasn't one anymore. She was in her fifties and was Konoha's Godaime Hokage. There was no point on worrying in such a perverted m…

"Ladies, ladies" Jiraiya started, catching both women's attention "She's right Tsunade, you can't choose for me" he said, freeing from Tsunade's grab and placing his now free hand above the woman's "I'd love to go with you, lady". The Hokage felt her legs weaken, and suddenly all the happiness that had been fulfilling her was vanished. She just wanted to go to the inn, get into the bed and wake up tomorrow, hopefully with Jiraiya in the other bed already. What was she thinking about? After all, he was a pervert and there was nothing she could…" But I'm afraid It will have to wait until the next time. Now I have to protect my Hime here" Her eyes lighted again as if a spark would have lit them. Haruka was looking at him surprised. "Anyways, thank you so much for the offer. I'll take it in consideration for the next time!" a loud laugh followed his words at the same time he turned around to face Tsunade. As soon as she saw him giving her his back, Haruka frowned and turned around, disappearing into the bunch of people that was still on the streets.

"Well, where were we…" Suddenly, Tsunade's fists encountered the top of Jiraiya's head, making him shout in pain "What was that for?!"

"MY Hime, what the hell were you thinking?! Be grateful I don't beat you to death right now" The hit hurt, but Jiraiya couldn't take her words seriously. She had a pouting face on, a light blush on her cheeks and was looking at the ground, escaping from any contact with Jiraiya's eyes "My bad, my bad" he said, rubbing the place of the impact "Still, this wasn't quite fair… Hey! Where are you going?" Tsunade had left without saying a word and was now some meters ahead. If it wasn't for her blonde hair and green jacket it would have been really difficult for Jiraiya to find her among all the people

"To the inn. It's late and I'm tired"

"Well, I suggest another stop before we return" he said, standing beside her

"What?"

"There's a gazerup there, not far from here. How about we get there and take a look at the city at night?" he had his silly smile on and his eyes pierced in her

Tsunade was glad he chose to stay with her in the end but the sensation she had felt when it seemed that he was going to leave with the other woman had left her a bit down and suddenly all the fatigue from the day fell on her "Jiraiya I'm tired and not in the mood for..."

"C'mon! You don't see a festival every day. I bet it will be amazing" suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and leant to her "Or even if you look like a woman in her twenties, you have started to take old lady's habits, granny?"

"Who are you calling granny you perverted idiot?!" she had already her sleeve up, with her fist ready and her forehead vein about to explode

"Then prove it" he was still leant forward, just a few centimeters separating their faces. His idiotic smile was annoying her even more

"Okay we will go to the damn gazer, we'll be there for five minutes and we return!" she pushed Jiraiya violently out of her way and headed to the damn place. She could hear Jiraiya laughing at her back even with all the noise surrounding them.

* * *

"This…is…." she was speechless. The view from the gazer was breathtaking. The whole village could be seen, totally lighten up and full of color. The night was very calm, and the temperature was perfect. Music could still be heard but it was so melodic it didn't matter how late it was. The streets were now emptier but still crowded. There were several bonfires around the place, with people sat around them and throwing into them their wishes. Children ran around them, laughing and playing. The ashes from the fires went up into a clear starry night, along with a shining full moon. Tsunade ran to the railing of the gazer to get a better view "This is amazing"

"It certainly is" Jiraiya said, leaning on the railing next to Tsunade.

They stayed like that, enjoying the view in silence for some minutes, until Tsunade finally relaxed from such overwhelming sight and started

"It kinds of remind me of Konoha"

"Uh?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrow at her words "Missing the village already, Tsunade?"

"It is my home after all" she was still looking at the village, lent on the railing "I think I miss Shizune a bit. It's been a long time since the last time we separated" She paused for some seconds "And I think I somehow miss Naruto a bit too" her words caused the man next to her to burst in laughter.

"You really miss that brat? He'll be pleased to hear that!" his laugh echoed into the warm night

"Don't tell me that you don't"

"Just a bit I, I'm his master after all. Anyways, men aren't into that missing people feeling" Tsunade rolled her eyes at his cocky words. It wasn't hard to tell he was acting tough again. He loved that child deeply.

"How did you do it?"

"Uh? Did what?" her sudden questions caused intrigue in him

"Going away from the village for such a long time so many times and not missing it, or the people there" It truly caught him off ward

"I already told you, men aren't…"

"Don't tell me that idiot thing of "men aren't into the missing someone feeling" and stop acting cool. Men are such simple creatures, and specially you" she smirked at the annoyed look of her teammate

"Well… I did miss things every time I went away, but I guess there was no one left important to me the last time I left the village for so long" she was now staring at him "I mean, of course Konoha was still my home, but after Minato died it felt empty so it wasn't as hard as it was the times 's why I was able to be out for twelve years straight"

"So it was harder when we were younger?" There was something Tsunade really wanted to know

"Sure it was"

"Why?" she wasn't giving any time in between his answers and her questions

"Because at that time I had much more to miss in Konoha"

When hearing his lasts words, her heart started beating faster. There was a question that she wanted to make, and the time had come. She really wanted to know it but the nervousness was taking over her. She took courage, breathe deeply and talked

"Jiraiya, did you mis…"

Boom.

The sudden sound of an explosion stopped her, and made her turn around to face the village

"There they are!" Jiraiya shouted

The explosion repeated after the first one, each one coloring of a different color the sky. They made different noises when flying up to the sky and explode into thousands of sparks, some of them even making forms.

"Fireworks..." Tsunade managed to say, still with her mouth dropped. He turned to Jiraiya, who was enjoying the spectacle with a wide smile "You did know there were fireworks, that's why you took me here, didn't you?"

"Maybe" his smile was so big that made him close his eyes "Enjoy the show Hime"

Tsunade faced the village to enjoy such a beautiful sight .Jiraiya opened his eyes and looked at a beautiful sight; still, they weren't looking at the same thing. While she was enjoying how the fireworks colored the night sky, he was looking at how they colored her stunning amber eyes. The fireworks lighted Tsunade's face every time they exploded and made her pale skin shine. Her soft lips were curved forming the most beautiful and pure of the smiles that Jiraiya had seen in a long time

"It is so beautiful" she said, absorbed by the show.

"Yes it is" he said, absorbed by her.

Suddenly, Tsunade started standing on her tiptoes and stretching her body and neck upwards. She looked so ridiculous that Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at it

"What the hell are you doing?" he managed to say, tears forming in his eyes

"I can't see the ones that explode low because of the damn trees in the middle!" Between the gazer and the village there were some not very large trees that blocked part of the view to Tsunade.

All of a sudden, Tsunade felt two big strong hands grabbing her from her waist, one at each side that gently lifted her in the air. They lifted her so smoothly yet so quickly that she didn't have time to react. When she realized what was going on, she was already sat on Jiraiya's wide shoulders

"JIRAIYA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING" she wouldn't stop moving, kicking him and waving her arms from one side to another "GET ME OUT OF HERE RI..." when she looked ahead, her mouth dropped. The view from her spot was breathtaking, but from that point on top of Jiraiya it was absolutely stunning. He was so tall that nothing stood in his way, and now that she was even taller, even less. She had a perfect panoramic of the village, from south to north, from east to west. There was no side she couldn't see. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen and her joy could be seen reflected in her big, opened up wide eyes with the same bright as the fireworks reflected in them

"Everything good up there?" Jiraiya was lifting his head to look at her, but he received no answer. He didn't need one either. He could see her totally fascinated by the show and it was more than enough. He was grabbing her tight from her thighs which were firmly settled on his broad shoulders so she wouldn't fall. He couldn't help thinking on the night before, when he was carrying her but in such a very different situation. A little confident smile appeared on him at seeing her so happy now, finally leaving behind the bad memories that had been tormenting her for so long.

He decided to look at the fireworks and enjoy the rest of the show when he realized something ; Tsunade had her soft little hands buried in his hair on top of his head, and it wasn't to grab it in case of falling. She was slowly caressing it, digging her fingers in and out softly and passing the locks of hair among them. With the other hand, she performed little circles, gently rubbing the top of his head. His hair was so soft that she was doing it unconsciously, but with much love. This pleasurable feeling fulfilled his entire body and made a big, true smile grew on his face. Jiraiya realized that he had been smiling even more than usual lately and loved it. He grabbed her even more tightly as a loving response that didn't pass inadvertently to Tsunade and both enjoyed the rest of the show in silence.

* * *

"I think I owe you an apologize, Jiraiya"

"Uh?"

The streets were barely empty now, as the warmth of the night was gone and it was starting to freeze. It was very late already and the sannins were on their way back to the inn. After the fireworks ended they stayed there for some more time but their energy was starting to run out as they had been the whole day from one place to another.

"The incident with the woman before. I had no right not to let you go with her"

"Well you're the Hokage and I'm your bodyguard, you have all the right to do so" his laugh echoed in the now silent streets

"Yes but this is a big village, and it was full of people at that time. There was no need to keep you with me, nothing was going to happen" she grabbed each side of her jacket and crossed them along with her arms, wrapping herself so she would be warmer. The temperature was going down fast "Plus, she was a beautiful young woman. Your type of girl right?" Jiraiya laughed again, causing Tsunade to frown

"You're right there. She was indeed a beauty" a shiver ran down Tsunade's spine after his words. She decided to think that it was because of the cold instead of his words "Anyways, there was no need for you to intervene, Hime. I wasn't going to go there, I'm on a mission after all. Researching can wait a few days more"

"How honorable from you" she said, accompanying her words with a roll of eyes and a sigh

"If you think about it " when he started speaking Tsunade already knew by his tone that it was going to annoy her "I passed from being with a young beautiful lady to be with a grumpy granny who can't even spend a day walking without being nearly dead at the end of the day. What a bad deal" he only had time to smirk before turning to face Tsunade and easily catching the punch that was straight to his face with his left hand. It wasn't hard to tell that Tsunade would hit him after that, and after years of practice he learnt how to time with it.

"You idiot I swear I'm gonna crush you so hard I..."

"I'm just joking Tsunade, just joking!" it was starting to be really hard stopping her punch. In fact, he needed both his hand to stop it and still he was having a hard , it was evident that Tsunade was really tired or else not in a million years he would have been able to stop it.

Tsunade was looking straight at his lips, which were forming a smirk that was annoying her even more, causing the Hokage to still push her fist against his hands harder. She was not only annoyed by his words to her, but because she was talking seriously about the matter with the woman in the evening and he seemed to be taking it as a funny thing.

She lifted her gaze a bit and found his eyes…eyes that stopped her from pushing harder. He was looking at her with eyes that were so kind, that showed care. The eyes of the person who had saved her so many times. What was that coming from? Suddenly, Tsunade saw his lips parting, slowly opening his mouth to speak. But the words didn't come out. He stayed with his mouth open for a second but didn't say a word. He clenched his teeth, frowning, and Tsunade felt how his eyes escaped from her, facing the ground. They were seconds that she felt like an eternity before he looked again at her only to find concern all over her face. He tightened the grab on her fist, which by the time wasn't pushing at all.

"You are frozen Tsunade. Let's go to the inn" a little smile was drawn on his face

"Jiraiya... What were you trying to say?" she wanted to know what was all that about, why he opened his mouth but didn't say anything, why he was looking at her that way. A surprise expression flashed through his face before returning the little smile

"Nothing" he freed Tsunade's fist, which was now warm because of his hands "Nothing at all. Let's get going or you'll end up frozen"

Tsunade didn't believe a word but he was right; it was too late and she was nearly shivering because of the cold, so she just nodded and walked beside him, heading to the inn. Still, she had a smile on her face. The day had been amazing and couldn't wait for what the next day would bring.

* * *

 **And that was it! I really hope you guys have liked it. I apologize if it has been a bit boring... it won't happen in the next one! In fact, we will have some action involved and... hope you have enjoyed the happiness in this chapter, because there won't be much in the next one :P**

 **Oh, and what do you all think Jiraiya was going to tell Tsunade when he opened his mouth? Words didn't come out this time, maybe they will later on ^^**

 **Thank you all sooo much fo reading this story and PLEEEASE leave a review telling if you liked or not, and what did you like most and what you didn't! It means A LOT. Thank you all and see you in the next chapter!**

 **P.S: Oh, I've been thinking and working lately in another fic about Jiratsu (ofc) this time focused in their younger years as the sannin, which will be darker and more serious than this one. What do you think? I have some big expectatives on it, so please check it out when I post it if you're interested! :D**


	6. Chapter 6-1: The discussion

**Hey everyone! First of all, happy (late) new year to everyone! Second of all, I wanna apologize for the very late update, but finals had been taking over my life since november so I haven't had much time, but luckily they are finally over and here I am.**

 **But well, not everything is as good as it seems. This chapter (6) was planned to be far more long, but since I have had problems to keep writing it these last few days I have decided to upload it as it is right now, more or less including half the things that was intended to include at first. I want to upload it already since the last update was a long time ago and I don't want anyone to belive this fic is abandoned. The seconda part of this chapter will be uploaded soon, don't worry! I have everything planned. So this is why this chapter is way shorter than the previous ones, so sorry about it. Anyways, I hope you like it!**

 **And as always, thank you sooo muc to everyone who followed, favorited and especially REVIEWED the fic! It may not seem much but it really motivates me to keep writing it, so please don't forget to do so when you read this time!**

 **With that said, here comes chapter 6.1! We'll read each other soon with the 6.2 ;)**

* * *

Night passed fast and morning arrived early, so both sannin were already on their way to their next stop. Apart from the one that had just started, there was only one day more of travelling ahead, and they'd be in the Land of Samurais. Tsunade's happiness still remained from the night before, and she was full of energy, even though they didn't get much sleep. The happiness that wrapped her the day before was still drawing an unconscious smile on her lips. Jiraiya, on the other hand, could barely stay standing. His eyes were half opened and his whole giant body suddenly weighted too much. Although he wouldn't admit it, he realized that now he needed much more hours of sleep than he did when they were younger.

"C'mon Jiraiya! At this rhythm we won't make it not even in a week". The blonde was some meters ahead of Jiraiya, who couldn't keep her fast steps.

"I'm going, I'm going" he said, lazily opening his mouth. They were groans rather than words. "I don't know how you can be so energetic, we have barely slept four hours" he said when he finally reached her

"When you have to stay up until late filling tons of paper every day you get used to it".

At that time, it seemed as if their faces were switched. Tsunade wore a little smile the whole time and her eyes were bright and open wide, while Jiraiya's face was totally the opposite. The only thing in his face that was opened was his mouth, due to the fair amount of yawns that escaped from it.

"See? Another thing for which I couldn't be Hokage" another sudden yawn interrupted his speech. This time, he used it as an excuse to stretch his giant body while keeping walking, trying to wake up a little. "Anyways, I doubt filling papers is the reason why you stay up so late. Won't it be the sake that you have hidden?" When he felt no hit on him, not even shouts, he realized the blank spot on his right side where Tsunade should be. He turned around only to find her some meters behind, kneeling in front of some bushes that were on one side of the way. He sighed and headed to her. Wasn't there any other better moment to stop? He wanted to arrive and sleep so bad.

"You know, if you are going to stop you could at least tell me, I've been talking al.." he shut his mouth when he saw what Tsunade had in her hands; a little harmed frog which had a rather big wound on its back that was bleeding. It also had one of its leg harmed, so it was impossible for it to move. "Tsunade what are you doing?"

"Look at it, it's bleeding and he can't move" she caressed the frog slowly, and it seemed it liked it "Always talking about your frogs and when there is one wounded you don't even realize it. Do something!" she looked at him frowning and in a way that made Jiraiya wonder if she was truly getting angry with him

"Do something? What do you want me to do? And mine are toads, not frogs for your information"

"And what's the difference?"

"Well" he felt energy flowing through his body. He liked talking about toads since he had spent a big part of his live with them and found them fascinating. He took a deep breath and started his speech "Toad are bigger and heavier than frogs and their skin is fairly more wrinkled and rough than frog's. On the other hand frogs have larger legs than toads and…"

"Jiraiya I don't need a class right now. Will you help him?"

The happy expression of Jiraiya turned into an annoyed one at the same time he knelt next to Tsunade. He looked at the animal for some seconds before speaking "He is pretty badly injured. There's nothing we can do" he said, clearly annoyed by the lack of appreciation of his teammate towards his knowledge, and standing up "Let's go or we will be late". It didn't take him long to realize that Tsunade wasn't following him. He sighed and went back again, where he found Tsunade's hands glowing.

"Are you really going to use your chakra to heal him?"

"I am not a vet but I am not an asshole like you neither, letting him like this" she was frowning and her words were sharp, which made Jiraiya sigh again and knelt beside her once again.

"An asshole is an asshole his whole life. That's why you were the best out of us three" he said, carefully looking at how the big wound on the frog's back was slowly healing. It always amazed him how medic ninjas were able to control chakra like that, using it to heal different body parts. It needed such a control that Jiraiya could hardly imagine" You are amazing Hime" he said lowly, unable to quit his eyes from her glowing hands fascinated by her ability once again. He had seen it a thousand times before but there was no single time in which her mouth wouldn't drop open a bit when seeing it.

Tsunade was concentrated on healing the little animal and her eyes were pierced on him but, unconsciously, her frown had vanished and her lips were a bit curved, forming a little smile. It seemed so but the man's words didn't pass unnoticed to her.

After five minutes, the wound on the frog's back was totally healed, only leaving a scar in the place. She tried the best she could with the leg as well, but it was much harder since the bone was broken and the technique of healing human bones and animal bones was fairly different. The animal could move it, but It would need some time until it healed completely.

"Finished" she said, moving her small hands from the tiny animal, who was starting to move even though his leg wasn't still perfect. It brought Tsunade a smile seeing the animal moving from happiness. She didn't have much time to look at it though, when Jiraiya took the animal in between his big hands, stood up and started walking to the river that was next to the way, a few meter ahead from they were

"Hey! What are you doing with it?

Tsunade shut her mouth when she saw him kneeling next to the river, and slowly leaving the animal there, caressing him in a way that Tsunade thought showed more care about the little animal than what he had showed the moments before. He caressed him for several seconds, and Tsunade would swear she saw Jiraiya moving his lips, as if he was saying some words. She tried to get closer to confirm it but before she could Jiraiya had already left their new friend in the river and returning next to her

"Don't you think we could leave him here right? Frogs need water, or they die" he was offering her one of his big, stupid smiles, as if he was the smartest man in the earth right now "Could we start walking again, please? I really need to take a rest" a big yawn closed his speech, as he returned to the way and got walking. Tsunade just rolled her eyes and followed him. She was still in a good humor and didn't want to discuss with an idiot right now.

* * *

"Finally!" his words sounded far more loudly than expected and some people on the streets turned around to look at him, confused and surprised, but he didn't even care. "Finally in this damn city! Let's go find the inn and take the biggest nap ever" Jiraiya chuckled a bit at his own words, because he reminded himself of Tsunade, always wishing to arrive to the next city totally exhausted. Before he could take the second step, he felt someone catching his robes from behind with a strength that almost made him fall backwards. After some ridiculous movements to avoid falling and recover the balance, he managed to turn around

"What is it now?!" he said, eyes narrowed and clearly annoyed at his teammates action. There weren't many things that annoyed Jiraiya but not getting enough sleep was definitely one of them and it had been getting worse with age.

"What are you saying of going to the inn, you old idiot? It's only meal time. Why are we going to pay for one to leave in an hour?" Tsunade wasn't going to be intimidated by her teammate's big frown and narrowed eyes, and copied that same expression herself. Jiraiya, always wanting to be more, narrowed his eyes even more and got closer to her

"Have you even listened to me once in this travel? This is our only stop today. The next one is so far away with an enormous forest in between and I don't want the night to fall on us in that forest, you understand granny?" his face was very close to hers, but none of them was falling apart

"Then your planning is horrible. This village is little and seems really boring, so we are not staying here. Let's get to the next point. We walk fast and if the night falls we will camp there, as the many times we have done before in missions"

"What part of "I don't want the night to fall on us in that forest" don't you understand?

"What part of "we are not staying here" don't you understand?"

Their noses were touching at that moment, each one looking fiercely into each other's eyes, both gritting their teeth. Tsunade's forehead vein was about to explode.

"You know, there's a good solution to this. I'm the Hokage, and you are my bodyguard. That's it, you do what I want, and, as I'm not tired at all and I don't want to stay here, we are going ahead. And I don't mind if we are not reaching the point today because it is "so far away". We will do what we can today and the less we have to do tomorrow, day in which we have to be in the Land of Samurais just in case you don't remember. And that said, let's got eat something and set off this awful village" Jiraiya didn't have time to respond before Tsunade turned around to give him her back and headed to the tavern next to them, leaving Jiraiya standing in the middle of the street with his fist still clenched.

* * *

When Jiraiya sat in front of Tsunade in the tavern, she had already ordered and was enjoying some food.

"Here you are finally" she said, with her mouth full of food "Don't tell me you have been "researching" around" she tried to speak calmly and as if it didn't matter to her where he had been the last half an hour, but it did. More than it should.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, really didn't seem to care a bit about her words, and after being searching in his backpack since he had sat and totally ignoring her words, he caught the map that he had and placed it on the table, putting Tsunade's food away carefree. He was dead serious, there was no a sign of a smile on his face, not even his eyes were lighten up. His obsidian eyes were now totally dark, and if Tsunade hadn't known him for more than forty years she would be scared of him. Since he had entered the tavern, he hadn't looked at her not even once. All those signs got Tsunade totally serious too, leaving the food she was eating aside.

"Look" he finally said. Even his voice sounded different. "We are here" he pointed the point of the map in which the village they were in was located. "And the next point on my horrible planning is here" he said it so seriously it made Tsunade feel bad of what she had said. Did he really take it seriously? Of course it wasn't horrible, they were going really well following that plan. She just said it to play with him a little, as they have done since they were children. Did he… "As you can see this point is really close to the Land of Samurais" it was, in fact, close. From the distance drawn in the map, just a few hours walking was enough to reach the place "And what you can also see, even someone who isn't a Hokage can, is that between here" he pointed where they were "and here" the next stop on his route "There is an enormous forest that is absolutely impossible to pass today before the night falls. So, what I have thought is..."

"Jiraiya when I said it before I didn't mean…"

"I am not done talking" he was now looking at her, for the first time since he had entered and she really wish he didn't. She felt as if his eyes were passing though her, full of… hate? It couldn't be. He couldn't be looking at her like that. A really bad sensation started to appear in her stomach at the thought, and she resisted to take her hand to her chest because of the rising pain that also appeared, all of a sudden. His words had caused her to lose her serious expression and a surprised along with a sad one emerged. Jiraiya realized it, but didn't hesitate and continued "In my plan we stay the night here, and leave very early in the morning so we reach the next stop by the afternoon. We take a little rest and leave for the last stop in the Land of the Samurais. We would be there by dinner, which is when we should be" when he finished talking and got his eyes off the map to look at her, he realized of much of an idiot he had been. Tsunade was looking at the map, but her eyes seemed as if they weren't seeing anything. She had a blank expression on that made Jiraiya totally recall

"I'm sorry Tsunade" he brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes while taking a deep breath "with the lack of sleep I don't think well what I'm doing and I…"

"We'll go ahead" her serious tone now stopping him. Tsunade was tired of being down again and again. That was from the past. She wasn't considered the strongest kunoichi for nothing. Her temperament was there to stay this time.

The two of them where now staring at each other. Both stares were hard and cold.

"I don't see the point of losing the whole day here when we can go on, even if it means camping outside, and rest tomorrow in the next stop which seems quite bigger" she was pointing the drawing of the next village in the map, which was considerably huger than the one in which they were" I really don't get why you got so angry from what I said before since it wasn't that much but, this time, we will do it my way"

"It's not what you said Tsunade, I don't care about that. It's what you want to do what gets me angry"

"What do you mean?" she was now frowning, and Jiraiya only sighed before answering

"I might be an asshole but you sure are stubborn" he said, sighing and bringing his right hand to his forehead

"What?" Tsunade was starting to get angry once again, and it wasn't going to be "joking" this time

Jiraiya leant forward, putting his forearms on the table and leaning on them

"You want to pass a big forest like this one at night, and even camp there. Anything can happen and we would be totally helpless"

"And what will happen to us? We are Legendary Sannin and I'm the Hokage, we can with everything that can appear"

"I don't mind about what can happen to me" he was serious again, but the spark in his eyes was back

"You do take this job as a bodyguard seriously don't you?" she tried to appear sassy at him but his words had reached her. But there was no point on questioning things, there was no point on imagining things. He was her friend and that's how things were meant to be and were going to stay. It was just a comment from a friend.

"I'm not talking as your bodyguard now"

That took her totally off-guard. She wasn't expecting such thing. What was she supposed to say now? She could find no words to answer. Luckily, Jiraiya wasn't really expecting one.

"Anyways, as always" he started, leaning backwards again, relaxing his posture "the last decision is yours, that's why you are the Hokage. And as always, I will support it, trust it and fulfill it until the very end. I just wanted you to know all the points"

They stayed in silence for seconds. Jiraiya was looking at Tsunade waiting for an answer that wasn't coming, and Tsunade was lost in her thought. She understood what he had exposed a moment ago, and his preoccupation about her but, for some reason, that much preoccupation for her made her kind of sick. She wasn't a child and was able to protect herself if something happened. He was always so confident about himself, as if he was the strongest man alive, capable of beating anyone. Why wouldn't she be the same? She was a legendary sannin like him, and camping outside at night wasn't a big deal at all. She appreciated dearly that he wanted to protect her, but everything had its limits and he was totally exaggerating this time.

"We will go ahead today"

Jiraiya sighed loudly, closing his eyes and covering his face with both hands, rubbing it as if he had just woken up from bed. When he had finished, he shook his head and landing the palms of both hands on the table, he stood up solemnly.

"If that's what you want Tsunade, that's what we will do". Let me get something to eat and we will keep going" He was still serious, or that's what Tsunade thought right before he turned around on his way to order something with a big smile "Hope you didn't end with all the supplies"

Tsunade then took a look at all the dishes, previously full of food but now laying empty on the table. She couldn't help but blush a little at all she had eaten at first, but then she just shrugged her shoulders and kept eating, finishing the last pieces of dango she had ordered.

* * *

The sun was already falling when they were totally inside the forest. No exit to it was visible, not even in the distance, even though they had been walking for some hours inside of it now. All the trees were so tall and leafy that the last rays of sun barely passed through the thick cloak of leaves, and that gave the forest a really creepy look. It was dark and silence. Silence. Nothing was heard inside, as if nothing alive was in a mile around.

The only thing Tsunade could hear was the breathing of her teammate right behind her. He was close to her, she could barely feel his chest on her back and his breathing on her head, but it was understandable; even if it wasn't late, seeing anything was getting difficult and he wanted to be as close to her as possible, just in case. Tsunade was starting to have some problems since being the first one meant to notice everything that was on the floor and avoid it not to fall. Such easy thing was starting to get hard because of the darkness.

They were in silence. They had been like that since they had entered the forest, leaving the light and any other form of life apart of them behind. Tsunade admitted to herself that, if it wasn't for Jiraiya's presence right behind her, she would be a bit scared. The silence was overwhelming. There were times in which she could hear her own heartbeat in her chest and that made her kind of nervous and anxious, which wouldn't help in getting her heartbeat normalized. Tsunade wondered why Jiraiya would choose this moment, this right moment in the middle of such a horrifying forest to stay in silence and not to speak up, cheering the ambient. But she knew why. He had all his senses on, searching for anything that could be dangerous. Even though there wasn't much to see, his eyes were scanning around, from one side to another, and that wouldn't let much of his tiny brain free for talking. Tsunade chuckled at her own thoughts.

 _Crac_

The little sound got both sannin immediately on guard, with the two of them with a kunai in their hands in less than a second at the same time they both collided their backs, one against the others

"Have you heard that?" Jiraiya asked, nearly whispering. He had the firmly grabbed kunai in a defensive position at the height of his chin.

"Yes. I've been sensing something for a while now but I thought it was an animal" Tsunade was a copy of her teammates position. She was trying to see something in between the trees that surrounded them but it was impossible to distinguish anything already. The sun was almost totally hidden.

"There are no animals in this forest" Jiraiya said, dead serious, right before opening his eyes wide. "Tsunade!"

Both sannin jumped at the same time, evading without much effort the dozen of kunais sent into their position. They both landed in a clearing that was a few meters ahead.

"What the hell was that?" Tsunade muttered. They were scanning their surroundings, searching for the source of the attack. Tsunade opened her mouth to speak again, but close it again when she saw Jiraiya lifting his arm in front of her, meaning her to keep silent. When she focused in the front, she saw a silhouette coming from inside the forest darkness.


End file.
